Mourne’s Sinn Féin Councillor Willie Clarke speaking following making a proposal at the recent Newry Mourne and Down Council meeting of the Active and Healthy Communities Committee called for more support to flood victims.
He said: “There was unanimous support for my proposal that the Newry Mourne and Down District Council Chief Executive issues correspondence to the OFMDFM office requesting that grants are made available to residents whose homes are prone to flooding. This would enable householders to install measures to mitigate the potential impact from flood waters.
“There is a need for government to support citizens to protect their homes against future floods by providing grants, so they can install new flood barriers, replace doors and windows with water resistant alternatives.
“If flood defence schemes are years from construction or if a flood defence project is economically unviable, for a small number of houses then alternative intervention measures need to be made available. Citizens cannot be expected to live in fear every time there is a forecast of rain.
“The grants should go some way to making improvements to the fabric of the premises that would have the impact of reducing the impact and cost of subsequent flooding on the property. I raised this issue while I was an MLA at Stormont a number of years ago. I welcome the NI Executives decision now to provide more financial support. But I hope this targets the most vulnerable homes and provides the right level of support including for self-help adaptions.”
Executive Statement on Flooding
In a statement issued yesterday evening, the NI Executive agreed to spend the full £1.3million of additional funding for flooding on preventative measures and preparedness to mitigate future incidents.
The Executive has asked the three Departments dealing with the recent flooding to work with the Finance Department to bring detailed proposals to the next Executive meeting on January 21.
The Executive was briefed on the joint Ministerial flood response meeting held in Cookstown last week involving Regional Development Minister, Michelle McIlveen, Agriculture Minister, Michelle O’Neill and Environment Minister, Mark H Durkan.
Ministers paid tribute to all those who worked through the holiday period in difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions to bring relief to those affected by flooding.
There was a full discussion on how resources can be best used to limit the impact on people, properties and businesses.
There was also an agreement the three Ministers dealing with flooding would bring to the Executive proposals in relation to potential support schemes.
The Executive agreed the approach must be balanced, supporting those in urgent need but also having a co-ordinated, strategic, evidence based approach for the future.
