Debate contribution: Water, Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Stephen Dunne on 16 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Stephen Dunne

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

16 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Water, Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5111366

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill at its Second Stage as a member of the Infrastructure Committee. As others have said, the principle of the Bill, as outlined by the Minister, is, ultimately, to improve water management and flood resilience in Northern Ireland — I think that we can all buy into that — through legislative reform and introducing new processes and powers for Northern Ireland Water. We have seen in recent years the impact of storms and the often milder, wetter winters. That highlights the importance of having fit-for-purpose legislation that allows NI Water and other key stakeholders to be agile and resilient to meet the ever-changing needs of today. The Minister has described the Bill as part of her three-pronged approach to dealing with waste water infrastructure and the crisis that that sector is in. From looking at the Bill's content, I believe that it is a step in the right direction, particularly when we look at the issues around sustainable drainage. The Minister spoke last week at an event marking 80 years of the Institute of Water and of the Construction Employers Federation, which I also attended. That was a very productive event that highlighted the expertise, innovation and experience that was present in a very well-filled room of attendees. The experience of the waste water and water sector has a key role to play, and the sector has the ability to focus on solutions and to play its part. This legislation, as I said, is a step forward in addressing the challenges that we have, and I am sure that the Minister is committed to working with that sector and the people who were in that room and knows the contribution that they have to make to make progress on this important matter. Clause 1 refers to what is commonly known as the hosepipe ban. Such a ban last took place in 2018, and that demonstrates that it is only ever used in exceptional circumstances. That last time exposed a number of issues with the current powers and some issues that were not covered, and the clause gives the opportunity to widen out the criteria. We received confirmation at the Committee recently that those new powers will not impact on the operations of commercial businesses, and that is an important point. Notification in websites and newspapers has been talked about, and I echo the points made about the use of social media. Obviously, that has a key role to play going forward. I think that NI Water utilises it already, but maybe there is room to have it in black and white going forward. The role of education is also very important. Sustainable drainage systems certainly can be a useful tool in reducing surface water run-off and improving water quality. They can come in many forms, with hard and soft measures. It is worth noting the comments from the Royal Society of Ulster Architects, which has welcomed the proposal to promote SuDS and, indeed, has highlighted the fact that those have been in use for many years. On the future direction of travel of the SuDS policy, lessons can definitely be learnt from across the UK and beyond. In Wales, for example, making SuDS mandatory for certain new developments has led to issues with application processing, maintenance problems and enforcement powers. There is an opportunity for lessons to be learned. Local authorities feel that they are not currently resourced to best administer and be held responsible for SuDS, so I think that there are definitely lessons that we can learn on that. It is also vital that any changes in policy do not lead, ultimately, to excess cost being passed on to the consumers.

We have discussed the risk of developer contributions being passed on ultimately to consumers. The Department and the Minister will have failed if two out of the three prongs of her approach to waste water issues add to the ever-rising costs for those struggling to get onto the property ladder.

Clause 6 is about flood protection and provides the Department with powers to introduce grants to assist homeowners in high-risk flood areas to protect their homes. As an MLA for the North Down constituency, which includes a number of areas at risk of flooding, the clause is particularly welcome. Putting those powers on a statutory footing could make a meaningful difference in protecting our communities and our environment. Like my colleagues, I remain broadly supportive of the principle of the Bill at Second Stage, and we look forward to it coming to the Committee, where we will look at it in more detail. We know the devastation that flooding can cause to businesses, homes and families, and there is an urgent need to develop our infrastructure, particularly our water and waste water infrastructure. The Bill provides some of the legislative tools to respond more effectively to some of those challenges. I am happy to support the Bill's moving to the next stage.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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