A year on from the Downpatrick flood and McGrath says there is a lack of progress to prevent further flooding in the town
South Down SDLP MLA Colin McGrath has said that the Department for Infrastructure must do more to address systemic and historic issues to prevent future flooding in Downpatrick.
Commenting, the South Down MLA has said, “The scenes witnessed in Downpatrick last year were harrowing, and many traders are concerned that little has happened since then.
“We were promised much: swift payments of funding, organised activities to help rejuvenate the town centre, and a resolution to the causes of the flooding problem.
“But instead we have witnessed delays to payments (with some still outstanding), a handful of events, and a report on the flooding that a primary school class could have produced.
“If the Executive, the Council, and some local parties are serious about the future of Downpatrick, then we would need to see evidence of this from them and their party masters in the Executive.
“Asking people to vote for you is one thing – doing the work when elected is another.
“Downpatrick cannot be left to wither on the vine and dwindle into oblivion.
“There is a serious risk of this if a concerted effort is not made by all.
“I was disappointed with a response received from the Department for Infrastructure’s Sinn Féin Minister.
“It merely paid lip service to the issue and certainly did not suggest to me that there was any urgency in addressing the root cause of the flooding.
“That has been a hallmark of the Executive response – slow and wanting.
