Minister needs to come to North-West following flooding, says Ferguson

Foyle Rachael Ferguson Infrastructure Flooding

The Infrastructure Minister needs to come to the north-west to see the damage caused by heavy flooding over the weekend, Alliance Councillor Rachael Ferguson has said.
Clean-up efforts are continuing across the area following torrential rain on Saturday, with homes and businesses left damaged.
Councillor Ferguson said previous flooding there had led to pledges from the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) to combat future incidents, which had not been followed through on.
“Myself and colleagues have spent all weekend helping residents and businesses deal with the fallout of the latest flooding across the north-west,” she said.
“That would be bad enough but it comes after previous flooding in 2017, following which the DFI held a series of meetings in which it outlined its plans for flood alleviation schemes. To date we are yet to see those schemes materialise.
“That is not good enough. Residents are angry they have had to go through this once again. The Infrastructure Minister needs to come to the north-west to see first hand the damage caused – his Department needs to urgently step up its plans and get the schemes started and completed.
“People here are now terrified every time it rains it will lead to their homes or businesses being further damaged. That is a heartbreaking situation but it does not need to be that way.”