Concerns raised that council owned facilities "responsible for flooding" local homes
A Lisburn councillor has raised concerns that a council owned golf course could be “responsible for flooding” a local home.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council faced criticism at a recent communities committee over a “poor” short term sandbag strategy potentially leaving elderly residents vulnerable to storm conditions.
Surface water overflow at local authority lands, including Aberdelghy Golf Club, is said to be causing “major” flooding problems as the council continues “batting the ball” over responsibility.
Councillor Jonathan Craig said: “There is a great amount of surface water coming off Aberdelghy Golf Club, Lambeg and a green area at Beach Park just off Kennedy Drive during recent storms and we need to have a solution in place.
“I was up at the affected homes recently and all I see are sandbags, which is pretty poor from the council, given we are the ones who are responsible for flooding of people’s homes.”
A council officer responded: “We intend to have meetings with different departments on this matter for short term and long term measures to be decided.
“There are some areas that are council land and others that are not.”
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service outside of chambers Councillor Craig added: “To say I am fed up is the understatement of the century, this is a major flooding problem.
"One of the elderly residents has been forced to claim off their own insurance for repairs to their home, when the surface water has come directly from council lands following heavy rainfall.
“The drainage solution appears simple, so it should just be done before more storms come along.”