NI Water recently attended the full meeting of Newry Mourne and Down District Council in Downpatrick to update members on local investment worth over £13 million this year.
Ronan Larkin, NI Water’s Director of Finance and Regulation, who addressed the meeting, said: ‘‘As part of our wider campaign of local government engagement, we were proud to outline investment worth some £13.5 million in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area over the current financial year, which represents part of a cumulative capital investment in the area of £68.5 million since 2013.
“This substantial investment is prioritised to protect the local environment, reduce the risk of flooding and help ensure our customers have an uninterrupted clean water supply, particularly over the winter. The opportunity was also taken to update the Council on our ongoing winter awareness campaign, ‘Don’t Wait Insulate’, which is intended to encourage customers to protect pipes and water fittings in their properties in advance of potential severe winter weather.
“We also dealt in some detail with the recent pollution incident in the Annsborough area, setting out in depth what NI Water is doing to rectify the situation and fully restore the Ballybannon River.
‘‘We also outlined NI Water’s ongoing commitment to the District, including in relation to significant investment at Newcastle wastewater treatment works, ongoing major refurbishment work at Camlough Lake and general watermains rehabilitation schemes, as well as forthcoming upgrade projects at Drumaroad water treatment works near Castlewellan, a significant sustainable water quality improvement scheme in the Carlingford Lough area and proposed sewerage upgrades in the Drumalane area of Newry.
‘‘NI Water takes its obligations to its stakeholders seriously, and we welcome the opportunity to meet with councillors and officials in this format to outline our case and highlight our ongoing work within the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area. We believe good working relationships with local government are vital when delivering our services and building our capital programmes of work.’’
