Only 22 unadopted roads in borough, figures reveal

Statistics provided by the NI Assembly’s Research and Information Service show that there are 2732 unadopted roads in private developments across the Province.

That figure was broken down by council area, which showed that Larne has a total of 22 unadopted roads - the second-lowest in the Province. Ballymoney had the fewest with just 21, while Belfast had by far the most with 367.

The definition of an unadopted road is a road or footpath that has been determined for adoption through the planning process, but construction work has either not yet started, or is not yet completed.

The Times previously reported that Larne’s Lindara housing development has the longest length of unfinished roads and footways in Northern Ireland (2,167 metres) and the highest value of road bonds. The bond is a sum of money which a private developer has to deposit in a financial institution as a form of surety to ensure that the roads, street light and sewers are properly finished. If the developer fails to undertake the work, the Department for Regional Development can draw down the bond funds to pay for the work, enabling the roads to be formally adopted and maintained in the future.

Bonds totalling nearly £800,000 will now be cashed in to pay for the installation of utilities at Lindara.

But a spokesman for the Research and Information Service said: “Roads Service is not routinely notified once a developer has gone into liquidation/administration and it may be some months before officials become aware that an individual or a company has gone into insolvency.”