Debate contribution: Traffic Chaos Affecting Villages in Lagan Valley

Debate contribution by Mr David Honeyford on 25 June 2024.

MLA

Mr David Honeyford

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

25 June 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Traffic Chaos Affecting Villages in Lagan Valley

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4498785

Read the official Assembly record

Text

OK. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I welcome this debate and I associate myself with Robbie and Paul's comments about the loss, in devastating circumstances, last year in Moira. There have been others in the area. As has been said, we have a real problem in our villages in Lagan Valley. That is evident in Hillsborough and Moira, but there are traffic issues in other villages. This is not a problem that has happened all of a sudden; it is the outworking of decisions to build and extend housing in those villages 20 and 25 years ago. Importantly, however, it is not the building of houses that is the problem, but doing so without the necessary vision and without upgrading the infrastructure in the area to support those houses. Large amounts of land were zoned for housing without adequate public transport investment or connections, or road infrastructure that was capable of carrying the resulting levels of traffic. Paul just mentioned a bypass for Moira. I will always support that because something needs to be done there, but we are talking about that after the fact; it should have happened first. It is about having the vision to put the infrastructure in first and then allow housing, rather than the other way around. Our village centres are expected to be able to cope. Hillsborough has been destroyed by heavy goods vehicles using the main street as the shortest through route. Those streets were designed to carry a horse and cart. The Georgian buildings there were erected without foundations, so they vibrate when large lorries travel through the village. I appreciate that there are lorries that need to drop off goods to the businesses there, but the majority of them are using it as a way through. Something has to be done about that, and I know that the Minister has it on his desk. It is certainly something that we have raised previously with the permanent secretary. I have to compliment DFI for its work on a stretch of road in Aghalee, which has a weight limit. Heavy goods vehicle were using that road because it was the easiest way for them to go. Those lorries were from a distribution company just down the road that provides a lot of employment in the area, so there was a balance to be struck. To its credit, however, DFI upgraded that road and sorted out the problem, allowing the residents to live in peace. That should have been done as part of the previous planning process; it should not have to be done retrospectively. When we look at the new local development plan, we have zoned a large amount of land at Blaris, which will, effectively, create a new village in Lagan Valley. A new link road is planned from Sprucefield up to the Moira Road.

Off the top of my head, I would say that approximately 3,000 to 3,500 houses are to be built on that land. A single developer came forward with an application for a new road and to build housing on approximately half of that land. I supported the road application, but, through the planning process, I went up against the DUP MP at that time — in fact, they are still the MP — on the housing application. The reason for that was simply that we were creating another problem.

We have a problem in Hillsborough, Moira and everywhere else, and here we go yet again. From the start, we are hitting out and building houses that fall outside the development plan. Some of those houses are on a floodplain. We are giving too much economic land over to housing and losing the opportunity to create jobs. Fundamentally, we are not providing any social housing at all in the area, although that was in the proposal. They have now compromised at 10%, which is still way below what is needed in our area. Additionally, there is no school or GP provision, so the wider infrastructure for the new community that we are building is completely lacking. We have a problem in our villages because of those decisions, which were taken 20 years ago. We cannot start that cycle again. I appreciate that the Department came in and overturned that decision, but Sorcha and I, our council team and, to be fair, every elected Member in Lagan Valley have been trying to raise those issues and find solutions. The weight limit in Hillsborough could be implemented simply by the Department. The previous Minister agreed to that, but then this place collapsed, and it did not happen. There are parking problems there as well. We need to look at that. If we are to use Hillsborough for tourism, we need to look at parking and at being able to get in and out of the village in a much simpler fashion. Sorcha and I lobbied the permanent secretary on those matters on behalf of residents when this place was not functioning. I will raise the issue of connectivity between Moira village and the train station again — I raise it all the time. We absolutely, fundamentally support extending that park-and-ride. That needs to happen as soon as possible. To try to provide an alternative to using the car, we also need to link the village to the park-and-ride so that people can walk and cycle safely in a lit environment, as well as ensuring that public transport is on offer, available and easy to access. Paul mentioned the bypass. We appreciate that that is not a simple thing to do, but there are things that can be done to help, and we should do all that we can to get to work and provide a safe environment for everybody.

959 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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