To ask the Minister for Infrastructure what plans she has to extend the Belfast Storm Water Tunnel from Upper Lisburn Road to Musgrave Park to facilitate progress on the drainage schemes for Sicily Park and Marguerite Park.

I recently consulted on “Living With Water in Belfast” - a £1.4 billion investment plan for drainage and wastewater management within the greater Belfast area. Proposed measures in the plan include more significant investment on hard-engineered infrastructure such as large drainage pipes, alongside greener drainage solutions such as river floodplain restoration works.

The hard-engineered infrastructure proposals in the plan include a significant sewerage improvement programme to alleviate flooding in the Upper Lisburn Road area. I am advised by NI Water that construction work on Phase 1 of this programme commenced this month and involves the construction of 1.3km of new sewer to increase the capacity of the existing network. This will reduce the risk of out-of-sewer flooding and environmental pollution within the Marguerite Park area. The scheme will take over two years to complete at a cost of £8million.

The out-of-sewer flooding in the Sicily Park area will be addressed by Phase 2 of this programme which involves the extension of the Belfast Stormwater Tunnel from Glenmachan Street to Musgrave Park. NI Water has included this scheme in its PC21 Business Plan submission to the Utility Regulator for the next six years. If funded, it is anticipated that construction of this work will take place during the PC21 period, subject to all statutory approvals being in place. In the meantime, NI Water will continue to monitor the sewerage network within this area, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall and undertake any required routine maintenance.