NI Water Meeting at Grand Jury Road, Saintfield.
Strangford MP Jim Shannon was in Strangford last week and addressed a stink in the town… literally.
He said: “There has been considerable angst about the sewers in Saintfield for some time with local residents reporting man-holes popping up, waste spilling all over the road and water and sewerage spilling out across the Crossgar Road close to the Water Waste Treatment Works.
“Quite simply this can’t go on. The problem seems to be at the corner of the Grand Jury Road and Crossgar Road at this time where figures show that the blockages are 401% and they should be under 100%. The Waste Water Treatment Works is at 91% capacity.
“The manhole being forced upward by the combined pressure of sewage and storm water through drains is the real problem, and today both did not materialise in this system was approved years ago.
“NI Water officials expressed that a working model would have to be investigated to ascertain how to address the ongoing problem long-term and that would involve improvement to the work at Crossgar Road in Saintfield and we as elected representatives will be putting our weight behind the conclusions to deliver a fully operative and functioning Waste Water Treatment Works.
“In the short-term, people want to have the reassurance that NI Water will respond to local people’s need, to ensure that people’s homes are not flooded, and that NIW have the waste lorries on stand-by at times of high rain fall.
“They have also requested that local people confirm problems with NI Water as they occur which also helps NI Water to prioritise the funding of improvements to address these issues.”.
