Debate contribution: Flooding and Lack of Recovery Actions: South Down

Debate contribution by Ms Diane Forsythe on 13 January 2026.

MLA

Ms Diane Forsythe

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

13 January 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Flooding and Lack of Recovery Actions: South Down

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5316385

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I thank the Minister and my South Down colleagues for being here today. I am sure that we are united in our desire to make real improvements and to address the issue of recurrent flooding and the lack of recovery actions in South Down. We all know that living in, working in and representing a rural constituency such as South Down brings with it some really specific challenges. Some of the infrastructure issues are very different from those in urban areas. I know that the Minister represents a constituency that is also quite rural and thus understands the issues. In South Down, we do not have rail links, motorways, big dual carriageways or significant road networks. It is a smaller rural road network that we travel on and very much rely on. Long before I was elected as an MLA, I remember the same areas flooding over and over again. Some of those areas have moved a little, but they are largely the same. That frustrates me, as a resident and a commuter, and I completely understand why people in my constituency are so annoyed at this being a repeated issue, because I am one of them. The flooding is so visible, and it affects everyone. Constituents of mine are rightly frustrated. They feel exasperated, and they keep asking, "What is anyone doing about it? What are our politicians doing?". I raise the issues regularly and frequently and genuinely do my best to make the case for the people in my area, as do my team on the local council, as well as other elected representatives in the Chamber and on the council. It is frustrating to see nothing change. We need to do something to address the public concern. I have therefore taken the opportunity to bring the topic to the House today to demonstrate how seriously I take it and to give the Minister for Infrastructure the opportunity to hear about some of the very real issues. As I said, the rural road network in South Down is critical to all of us who live and work there. One of the most significant roads is the A2, which runs right down the coast from Newcastle to Warrenpoint. When there is a problem on the road, it causes absolute mayhem. Large haulage vehicles and buses struggle with back-road diversions when the roads are blocked. Ambulances and emergency services cannot get through, and things come to a standstill. Along the A2, one of the worst areas for significant and recurrent flooding is the stretch from the Shannaghmore Outdoor Learning Centre to Bloody Bridge. From when I was a child, I can remember how badly the area flooded, which was almost every time that there was heavy rain. In one of the most recent lots of heavy rain, it flooded so quickly that cars had to be abandoned and the PSNI had to issue a notice for drivers to avoid the road. It was a crisis situation. When that part of the road floods so badly that the road is closed, the diversion route is up through Bryansford, which had a number of floods of its own during the most recent bad rain. People turn to me, as an elected representative, to ask, "What can we do differently?". I just do not know, so I raise the matter in the House today in the hope that, together, we can come up with some type of solution. When you approach the area between Shannaghmore and Bloody Bridge and see the flooding, there is something really ironic about looking at a road flooded like a swimming pool, when its outside wall is literally on the coast and you can see the sea. I am not an engineer or an expert in any way, but is there no way in which those huge floods can be helped out to sea in order to clear the road?

That was one of the first significant road issues that came up when I was elected, and there just seems to be continual clearing and crisis management, but nothing fully resolves that issue, and the road itself deteriorates further. There needs to be a serious permanent solution and action plan.

There is a clear lack of recovery action also in assessing and maintaining the roads after they have been flooded, and that does not inspire public confidence either, as the roads are visibly eroding where they have collapsed in places, and claims for damage to cars increase. I see those increasingly coming through my constituency office, obviously since the recent frosts but after floods as well. Erosion was particularly prevalent further along the A2 at Kilkeel a couple of years ago, where recurrent flooding caused the main road to collapse inwardly with a sinkhole just below Riverside, which cut the town off completely. Following that, I called for a full review of the road structure. Segments of it were of extreme concern as the cliffs corrode into the beach. In December 2024, I tabled a motion on local roads. Following that, the previous Infrastructure Minister took action and approved a review, and a few miles of resurfacing was done on the A2 from Kilkeel to Ballymartin. There needs to be a full review of the road, our main access point in the Mournes. The previous Minister promised that, and I asked you about it, Minister, when you took office, but we have not seen it progressed. Councillors on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council wrote to you on the matter, and I appeal to you to urgently review that road. Also along the A2, we have significant, recurrent flooding on dangerous corners at Glassdrumman and Killowen. Killowen was on the news during recent flooding, with people using canoes to bring people their grocery shopping, so badly was it cut off. When that happens, the entire area is shut down. People are literally stranded in their homes. Every time there is severe flooding, it is the same story. The people who live there are just devastated by damage to their homes, and they are not seeing action. I understand that there is a range of issues, but they do need to be actioned. There are a number of local estates with issues, including Grahamville Estate, Kilkeel, where the river through the estate has never been addressed, and homes in the park keep getting flooded due to the same issues every time. People deserve better. They cannot raise the issues more forcefully, and as an elected representative, I do not know where else to raise them. We then have Newcastle, where recurrent flooding has been so bad that the Newcastle regional community resilience group (RCRG) was set up. I know, Minister, that you met the group, and I appreciate your coming to the constituency and doing that. That community organisation was established following a perceived lack of government agency support, with homes submerged in 2019 and 2023, causing severe damage and insurance policy hikes. Minister, things are still terrible, and I agree with the group that the sticking-plaster solutions have left them on the verge of collapse. Recent flooding on Tullybrannigan Road was horrific and was cited as being the worst in 40 years. I was at it, and I just could not believe some of the things that I saw. Minister, we need to sort out, once and for all, the horrendous drainage problems in the Newcastle area. Out-of-sewer flooding and drains surcharge occurred, yet again, on 19 October 2025 on Marguerite Avenue, an area that has been flooded many times. The inadequate pumping station in Marguerite, which is not fit for purpose, needs to be replaced. The emergency protocol currently in place, whereby a temporary pump is brought in at short notice, is only a sticking plaster as the pump was, once again, found to be ineffective during the heavy rainfall in October past, when floodwater spilled out, yet again, into the avenue, with five gullies under floodwater at 5.30 pm, even when the rain had eased. The area was badly flooded in autumn 2023 despite flood walls being in place. I support the calls of the RCRG and of the wider Newcastle community, and I urge NI Water and you, Minister, to sort out that issue once and for all, before we have another catastrophic flooding incident. As a local representative, I do not want to be taking media calls on catastrophes in my constituency. I want to see the issues addressed. Finally, on some specific recurrent issues, I highlight Downpatrick. We have discussed the longstanding issues there in the Chamber a number of times, which, just like those in Newcastle, need a permanent solution. For too long, planning has not taken account of the local floodplains. As local elected representatives, we joined together in 2023 when the heart was completely ripped out of the county town after it was submerged in water. It seemed as though everything that could go wrong at the one time came together, with a slow and poorly communicated series of recovery actions that led to huge delays, devastating many businesses, which have never recovered, and the Downpatrick and County Down Railway. It has been, quite frankly, soul-destroying for the people of Downpatrick to see the low response and the lack of recovery actions on a long-term basis to date. Minister, I ask you today to please outline what steps you will take to address the issue going forward for the people of Downpatrick. Minister, I know that you are one person and that you cannot solve everything, but, by taking on board the issues, you can show the people of South Down that you are listening and taking the recurrent flooding seriously, and direct a plan of action. We all need to work together to tackle those important issues, because we need to restore public confidence in what we can achieve together. We cannot continue like this, with people panicking about every single weather warning. There have been plenty of weather warnings lately, and every time that there is one for heavy rain, I have people on panicking, looking for sandbags, asking for crisis numbers and stocking up their homes. In South Down, the floods and storms of 2023 caused land slippages and partial road closures. The Shore Road, Rostrevor, was partially closed for over a year, and the Kilkeel Road, Hilltown, is still reduced to one lane over two years on. Minister, I, like many members of the public, want to know the cost of the temporary traffic lights there. I am sure that it is eye-watering. Two years on, the lack of visible progress on that busy main road through the mountains is such a frustration for local people who regularly travel from Kilkeel to Hilltown and Rathfriland and to and from the Mournes. I am pleased to hear that work will progress on that soon following the appointment of a contractor. I hope that the Minister can provide us with some more detail on that. Minister, overall, I believe that we all want the same thing here: we do not want recurrent flooding issues to cripple my constituency or anywhere else. I understand the financial pressures that you are under, but as I have said to you before — I will say it in the House today — my constituents are frustrated and exasperated. They have asked what you and other politicians are doing and why no one is looking at this. I have raised it repeatedly, and I have brought it to the House today, because I do not know what more I can do. Minister, I ask you to please recognise the issues and make a public commitment today to take some meaningful action on the recurrent flooding across South Down. It has been going on for too long, and our local people deserve better. I thank everyone who stayed for the Adjournment debate. I hope that we take this opportunity to join together and that we see some action.

2,010 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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