Debate contribution: Storm Impact: A20 Portaferry Road

Debate contribution by Ms Kellie Armstrong on 3 February 2026.

MLA

Ms Kellie Armstrong

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

3 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Storm Impact: A20 Portaferry Road

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5363209

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I thank the Minister for attending the Adjournment debate to address an issue that is not only about infrastructure but about public safety, community confidence and the basic expectation that government agencies should work together when lives are at risk. The A20 Portaferry Road is a lifeline for the Ards peninsula. Thousands — commuters, schoolchildren, carers and local businesses — rely on it daily. I declare an interest: I live on the Ards peninsula and use the A20 every day. As all of us who use the A20 have seen repeatedly, that vital route is uniquely vulnerable when storms coincide with high tides. The recent storms, including storm Bram, have once again exposed the fragility of the road and the gaps in our response systems. During storm Bram, a school bus travelling along the A20 was engulfed by waves. Children who were on their way home from school being stranded by coastal flooding and hit by waves should never have happened, and it was avoidable. The road should have been closed earlier, and the fact that it was not highlights a failure in coordination between DFI Roads, the PSNI, local schools and the media. It is not a new problem. In fact, the Assembly has debated the dangers of the A20 before. In the Adjournment debate on 12 March 2024, Members highlighted long-standing concerns about road safety along that exact stretch and emphasised the need for proactive measures and better planning. The issues raised then — poor visibility, unpredictable tidal surges and the need for timely interventions — are the same issues that we are dealing with today. Local news reports have also repeatedly documented the battering that the road takes during storms, with waves overtopping the carriageway and debris making it dangerous and impassable. These are not isolated incidents but predictable events that occur when severe weather and high tides align. Minister, this is where the wider context matters. We are already living with the consequences of climate change, such as more frequent storms, more severe tidal surges and more pressure on our coastal infrastructure, yet the Executive have still not agreed the third climate change adaptation programme. It has been sitting with the Executive for months. Let us be honest: the delay is the Executive's refusal to allow it to progress. At a time when communities such as mine on the Ards peninsula are facing the very real impacts of climate change, it is simply unacceptable that the vital adaptation plan is being held up for political reasons. Ministers and Members cannot, on one hand, express concern about flooding, coastal erosion and infrastructure resilience and, on the other, block the very programme that is designed to help us to prepare for and respond to those challenges. The delay has consequences in our communities and for roads, such as the A20, and the people who rely on them. When we know that a storm is coming and that the high tide will coincide with it, the public expect there to be a clear, coordinated plan to close the A20 before people are put at risk. That requires DFI Roads, the PSNI, schools and the media to act in unison with shared information and responsibility. Today, I ask for clarity on three key points. First, what proactive system is now in place to ensure that the A20 is closed before the conditions become dangerous? We know that the Met Office yellow warnings or higher give us advance notice; we know the tide tables — in fact, they are published online, and I look at them regularly — and we know the road’s history. There is no reason for having last-minute decisions or for vehicles to be caught out. It is not acceptable to say that it is up to only the PSNI to close a road. The Minister has a responsibility for road safety. Secondly, how will communication between agencies be improved? Schools must be informed early so that they can reroute buses. The PSNI must be ready to enforce closures. The media must be briefed promptly so that the public receive accurate and timely information. It cannot be a chain of individual decisions; it must be a coordinated response. Why is that not happening? Thirdly, what contingency plans exist for the alternative internal peninsula route? When the A20 is closed, the alternative route must be clearly signposted, well communicated and safe. Residents have repeatedly raised concerns about the narrow roads where cars cannot pass safely, never mind an oil tanker, a milk tanker or a school bus. They have concerns about the lack of signage when diversions are put in place. That is a basic requirement, and it should not be left to chance. It is something that the Department for Infrastructure should have planned for and support should have been put in place to maintain road safety. The people of the Ards peninsula deserve reassurance that lessons have been learned, not only from storm Bram but from every storm before it. They deserve to know that their children will not be on buses travelling through dangerous conditions with waves crashing over them. They deserve to know that their commute will not become a gamble. They deserve to know that government agencies are working together and not in silos. The A20 will always be vulnerable to the impact of storms, especially when the waves come over from Strangford lough. As a resident who uses the road every day, I avoid the main route when the weather is bad, as I know that any wave could carry sand, seaweed, stones and, at times, part of the sea defences on to the road. However, Minister, our systems, planning and communication do not have to be vulnerable. With proper coordination, early closures and clear contingency routes, we can protect the road and the people who rely on it. It is not good enough to say that it is up to the PSNI to close a road or for the Education Authority to leave it to a driver of a school bus to make decisions about road safety; it is up to government to put in place emergency and contingency processes to protect all road users. It is certainly not good enough for some parties to wring their hands about flooding while blocking the very climate adaptation plan that would help us to prepare for it. The people of the Ards peninsula deserve better than political games when their safety is on the line. I look forward to hearing about the concrete steps that the Minister and the Department for Infrastructure are taking to ensure that the events that took place during recent storms are not repeated and that the A20 and, indeed, all coastal routes are managed with the urgency and seriousness required.

1,135 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:31 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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