Browse content similar to 04/12/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up, building bridges, not | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
mending relationships this time, but the whys and wherefores of a | :00:30. | :00:36. | |
new bridge at Narrow Water in County Down. Until this project is | :00:36. | :00:42. | |
completed, the risk of all of the cost of the bridge rests with the | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
executive in Northern Ireland. Also, a bit of straight talking | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
from the Sports Minister during Question Time. I resent the | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
implication that within the last 12 months, because I am in the | :00:53. | :00:57. | |
department, there has been some sort of dip. | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
And with me to discuss the vexed issue of unadopted roads, the | :01:01. | :01:09. | |
Alliance MLA Stewart Dickson. Last month, the European Union said | :01:09. | :01:14. | |
it would provide EUR17.5 million of funding for a new bridge at Narrow | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
Water in County Down. Nationalists back the building of the bridge, | :01:17. | :01:22. | |
which they say will provide a boost to tourism in South Down. But | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
within days of the funding announcement, the First Minister | :01:25. | :01:29. | |
Peter Robinson said he wants an investigation into the decision. | :01:29. | :01:34. | |
Today amid differing views and significant unionist opposition, an | :01:34. | :01:37. | |
SDLP motion called for the department of finance to back the | :01:37. | :01:43. | |
project. In 1979, an engineering survey was commissioned. This | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
showed that a bridge would be feasible. The proposal has enjoyed | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
widespread support since then. Buy- back this project because it is a | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
genuine cross-border project providing the first bridge linking | :01:56. | :02:02. | |
Ireland north and south. It makes good sense at a social and economic | :02:02. | :02:08. | |
level and on every conceivable measure of community benefit. | :02:08. | :02:15. | |
find it offensive to refer to this project as a tourism boosting, | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
rush-hour beating objective in terms of improving infrastructure. | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
Any publicity surrounding the bridge has focused only on tourism, | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
yet tourism alone is hardly a strong enough argument for an | :02:27. | :02:32. | |
expensive undertaking. The project has caught the imagination of the | :02:32. | :02:38. | |
people of South Down. The prospect of this great connector has given | :02:38. | :02:43. | |
people hope for economic prosperity. Two other projects will be | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
harnessed to create an economic boost in our east border region. | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
Connecting the two historic areas allow an important cross-border | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
projects that will develop the entire region's tourism potential | :02:57. | :03:01. | |
by facilitating access to a spectacular area of mountain ranges, | :03:01. | :03:07. | |
shimmering locks and a coastline. This area has been deprived of | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
investment for too long. Considering the cost of the bridge | :03:10. | :03:14. | |
in terms of overall infrastructure spending, a bridge at Narrow Water | :03:14. | :03:20. | |
will provide a boost for the entire region. I will support this motion | :03:20. | :03:26. | |
and support the construction of the bridge, as long as it is not at the | :03:26. | :03:35. | |
expense of a sudden relief road, which offers huge benefits to Newry | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
and right across the South Down area. It will be very much for | :03:40. | :03:45. | |
tourism traffic. I would have serious concerns about the | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
infrastructure on the County Louth side of the bridge. Just checking | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
if the member has any idea of the figures as did the amount of | :03:53. | :04:02. | |
traffic it would carry per day? have no idea what level of cafe | :04:02. | :04:07. | |
there would be. But I am sure the minister will be happy to take my | :04:07. | :04:11. | |
honourable friend's intervention and question him on that. A bridge | :04:11. | :04:20. | |
is a huge symbol for humanity. Settlements have grown into | :04:20. | :04:26. | |
villages, into towns, Inter cities around 14 places and around the | :04:26. | :04:34. | |
bridges. Sir bridges are a proven stimulus to growth and development. | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
And building of this bridge will link Northern Ireland and the | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
Republic, and it can be seen as a local piece of infrastructure | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
linking County Down to County Louth. It will facilitate local people and | :04:47. | :04:52. | |
encourage good neighbourliness. It can also be seen as a valuable | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
piece of tourism infrastructure. Some of the members who spoke | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
probably no the economic appraisal better than I do. Actually, the | :05:02. | :05:09. | |
main reason given for this bridge is not the tourism potential. The | :05:09. | :05:14. | |
second most important reason given is not the tourist potential. And | :05:14. | :05:19. | |
indeed, the appraisal itself states that given that it is unlikely "in | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
our view that a large proportion of additional visitors will come to | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
the area specifically attributes will able to the existence of the | :05:28. | :05:34. | |
bridge". This is not an issue. For �1 million, you get a bridge. First | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
of all, the amount of money which will come from departments in | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
Northern Ireland is to �0.8 million. But more importantly, until this | :05:44. | :05:51. | |
project is completed, the risk of all of the cost of the bridge rests | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
with the executive in Northern Ireland. If this bridge is not | :05:54. | :06:03. | |
completed on time, the final bill will be in by June 2015, then we | :06:03. | :06:10. | |
lose all the money which is put into this project, because we will | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
have missed the European deadline. The final decision on this has not | :06:13. | :06:19. | |
been made. The DFB is the accountable department. Once a | :06:19. | :06:25. | |
decision is made by the programme's steering committee, which it was on | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
24th October, then all of the paperwork comes to the Department | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
of Finance and Personnel. All of the relevant documentation is | :06:34. | :06:40. | |
sorted. We will look at the costs, benefits, value for money and the | :06:40. | :06:45. | |
risk before we make a final decision. It is my job, once I have | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
received information, assessments by the officials, the professionals | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
within of my department, on all of the relevant documentation and | :06:54. | :07:02. | |
issues, to make up my mind. The one thing I can say, however, is that | :07:02. | :07:08. | |
no one has ever been able to accuse me of making up my mind on the | :07:08. | :07:13. | |
basis of whether I like who proposes that a motion or who | :07:13. | :07:19. | |
opposes a motion or where it comes from. Unlike ministers from both | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
Sinn Fein and the SDLP, I have not had my judgment called into | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
question by the courts, and I don't intend that to happen. For that | :07:29. | :07:35. | |
reason, I will not be making a pre- judgment on the issue today. I have | :07:36. | :07:44. | |
never had an application for any European money where there has been | :07:44. | :07:51. | |
the degree of political interest, political involvement, political | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
dabbling that there has been with this application. | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
The finance minister Sammy Wilson. And the proposal calling on the | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
department of finance to support the new bridge was passed. 85 | :08:03. | :08:07. | |
members voted, 47 in favour and 38 against. | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
A question over funding for sports clubs in east Belfast prompted some | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
straight talking during questions to the culture, arts and leisure | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
Minister Caral Ni Chulin. But first, here is the minister answering a | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
question on the lasting legacy of the World Police and Fire Games. | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
The accommodation has been raised as a possibility that might cause | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
difficulty in delivering the Games. I would like to welcome the | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
information road shows beginning this week. Could I ask the minister, | :08:35. | :08:40. | |
does she think there are any lessons that can be taken from the | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
efforts to create a lasting legacy from the 2012 Olympics and | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
Paralympic Games that can be applied to the World Police and | :08:46. | :08:53. | |
Fire Games? I do think there are lots of lessons we can learn, | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
particularly the more positive aspects. We have young ambassadors | :08:56. | :09:03. | |
who were involved in the Olympics and Paralympics. The Games Makers | :09:03. | :09:07. | |
and volunteers around those games, we had to translate that to the | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
World Police and Fire Games. The role of charities and under- | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
represented communities, as well as looking at accommodation, which | :09:15. | :09:21. | |
will be a big challenge. One idea that the City of London employed, | :09:21. | :09:28. | |
we can perhaps learn from. We need to look at the overall position of | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
where we are at in terms of enhancing the opportunities for the | :09:32. | :09:40. | |
World Police and Fire Games. The incident that happened in Belfast | :09:40. | :09:46. | |
last night does not add to the image of the friendliest games ever. | :09:46. | :09:52. | |
I am concerned that long-term unemployed and young people in | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
particular are given opportunities during the construction phase of | :09:55. | :10:03. | |
the stadia. That was part of the specification for the procurement. | :10:03. | :10:09. | |
I can give that comfort to the member. For a long time, we have | :10:09. | :10:15. | |
been hearing about long-term unemployed, among but I am talking | :10:15. | :10:21. | |
at least 12 months and beyond. In relation to the social causes that | :10:22. | :10:27. | |
are included in the procurement contract, in the Ravenhill contract, | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
we are looking to employ seven long-term unemployed people, to | :10:33. | :10:36. | |
have 5% of the workforce in apprenticeship schemes, to have two | :10:36. | :10:41. | |
student placements and produce five practical proposals put contract | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
which will develop social returns for that area. Poor of the | :10:45. | :10:51. | |
Department support of the IFA's idea of having a museum? The first | :10:51. | :10:55. | |
time I heard about this was on the radio the other morning, and I just | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
caught the tail-end of what was said. Within our museum family, we | :11:00. | :11:10. | |
do need a sports focus. We have a proud history, and it is not | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
reflected. Looking at the museum in Croke Park, it is a tourist | :11:14. | :11:22. | |
attraction that brings people into the stadia. It adds to the economy | :11:22. | :11:31. | |
and gives a history, reflecting the sport. That and so will come as a | :11:31. | :11:36. | |
shock. Within the last of months, not one penny of money has gone | :11:36. | :11:42. | |
into the East Belfast constituency. It is a very large constituency | :11:42. | :11:47. | |
which has a high number of sports clubs actively pursuing sports in | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
the area of. One can only question why that sudden drop-off has | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
happened over the last 12 months. Can I ask the minister what she | :11:57. | :12:02. | |
intends to do to reactivate the level of funding? I think you have | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
got a question there. May be the member did not hear the beginning | :12:05. | :12:11. | |
of the answer, so I will repeat it. No clubs in the East Belfast | :12:11. | :12:17. | |
constituency have applied for funding within the last 12 months. | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
I resent the implication that within the last 12 months, because | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
I am in the department, there is some sort of dip in sports | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
preparation in East Belfast. I wish the member would clarify their | :12:29. | :12:34. | |
position. I am happy to meet him and also meet groups in East | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
Belfast to hear what the sport needs are. But I will not tolerate | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
people making inferences because they had not applied for funding | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
rather than had not received funding. | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
A very firm Caral Ni Chulin. The Agriculture Minister Michel | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
O'Neill told the chamber this afternoon her that up to 8000 trees | :12:51. | :12:57. | |
have now been destroyed here in an effort to contain ash dieback. | :12:57. | :12:59. | |
During question time, she also revealed that there are now 16 | :12:59. | :13:02. | |
separate outbreaks of the tree disease across Northern Ireland. | :13:02. | :13:07. | |
Our strategy for dealing with the disease requires surveillance off | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
likely sources of infection, detection and eradication of | :13:10. | :13:14. | |
diseased trees. Some councils have landfill facilities and have made | :13:14. | :13:19. | |
these available for burial of trees that need to be destroyed. One | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
council has been involved because trees were recently found on their | :13:23. | :13:30. | |
land. The council is working to destroy the trees. The chief | :13:30. | :13:32. | |
executive is compacting council chief executives when diseased | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
trees are found in that area to advise them of the finding, to | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
brief them of the actions that need to be taken and timber offer basic | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
biosecurity advice. Recreation officer has also play an important | :13:44. | :13:48. | |
part in the monitoring of trees and alerted department when they are | :13:48. | :13:53. | |
concerned about disease. In terms of current spread of the age of | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
disease, the position this morning was that there had been 16 | :13:56. | :14:06. | |
confirmed outbreaks at recently planted at sites. The confirmed | :14:06. | :14:15. | |
outbreaks are in County Antrim, Derry, down and Tyrone. Again, as | :14:15. | :14:19. | |
of this morning, there were four separate sources, two of which were | :14:19. | :14:25. | |
planted out, all linked to imports from continental Europe. To date, | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
no cases have been confirmed on forested land. This disease is a | :14:29. | :14:35. | |
high priority for our department. Resources are being committed to | :14:35. | :14:42. | |
tracing the disease. In addition, we have surveillance under way and | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
are targeting 1000 sites. Our strategy going forward to eradicate | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
the disease will depend on the outcome of this violence and the | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
development of scientific advice. The Diamond Jubilee site was | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
established in County Antrim last year with the planting of some | :14:57. | :15:02. | |
60,000 trees in conjunction with the Department of Forestry. The | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
condition of the grant was that around 20,000 ash trees had to be | :15:06. | :15:12. | |
planted. Is it good practice to insist that such a high percentage | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
of single species tree in any project has a condition? I can't | :15:16. | :15:21. | |
speak about that case, but I can confirm that this strain of this | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
disease is different to what we have seen in Europe, which is why | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
there are particular problems with identifying the effective treatment. | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
The science is not there because this is a relatively new disease, | :15:32. | :15:38. | |
only found since 2011 in England. We are trying to develop the | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
science and treatments moving forward. At this stage, it is about | :15:43. | :15:48. | |
taking the new plants so that it never gets into the older plants. | :15:48. | :15:58. | |
:15:58. | :15:59. | ||
But it is not because there was no Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. As | :15:59. | :16:05. | |
the Minister said, England has covered this last year - has the | :16:05. | :16:09. | |
Minister engaged with parts of England and Wales where it's | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
affected? You know, the best practise is what they have been | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
doing to address this problem... can assure the member that it's my | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
priority to make sure we eradicate this disease. That's very much the | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
stage we're at in terms of eradicating the disease. We're very | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
much involved in surveillance and research. We'll look to everybody, | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
particularly to England because of the position they're currently now | :16:32. | :16:38. | |
in. We also look towards the south of Ireland, and we have very much | :16:38. | :16:41. | |
applied for this discerning approach when it comes to keeping | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
it out. That's important work. It's very important we engage | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
particularly as we develop the science. We don't want to reinvent | :16:49. | :16:55. | |
the wheel. We'll also use that method. We're working with DEFRA | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
and with the south. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I | :16:59. | :17:04. | |
thank the Minister for Her answers so far. Could the Minister answer | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
what steps she is taking to ensure that the four sources identified | :17:10. | :17:16. | |
for this disease in Northern Ireland are the only sources? | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
assure the member we're currently out surveilling. As I said, we | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
don't want to survey about a thousand site, which we want to | :17:23. | :17:27. | |
make sure there are no symptoms present. At this moment in time I | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
think we have been to over 200 sites, but there is like a trade | :17:30. | :17:35. | |
trace, if you like, so anything that's been imported from those | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
potential sites or those sites where there has been cases detected, | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
we're very much tracing that whole movement. The officials are | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
currently working through that process at the minute. We have | :17:45. | :17:51. | |
diverted a lot of staff to make sure they're on the ground doing | :17:51. | :17:53. | |
the inspections and getting as much information as possible. | :17:53. | :17:55. | |
The Agriculture Minister, Michelle O'Neill. The controversial issue of | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
flying the Union flag over Belfast City Hall has dominated the news | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
headlines in recent days, and flags were also on the agenda at Stormont | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
today when members had an opportunity to ask questions about | :18:04. | :18:09. | |
the running of the Assembly. The arrangements, Mr Deputy Speaker, | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
for the flying of the Union flag from Government buildings in | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
Northern Ireland are set out in the flag's regulations, Northern | :18:18. | :18:23. | |
Ireland Order 3,000 as amended by the flag's regulation, Northern | :18:23. | :18:28. | |
Ireland amendment 2002. The Assembly Commission's policy is to | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
follow those regulations. The list of designated days of which the | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
member will be aware of on to these -- under these regulations is | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
regulated by OFMDFM each year. Generally, 15 days in total, and | :18:42. | :18:52. | |
:18:52. | :18:52. | ||
it's not zuded by the -- decided by the Assembly Commission. The issue | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
the member has raised will be considered at the next Assembly | :18:56. | :19:01. | |
Commission meeting next week. Alastair for supplementary. Could I | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
ask the Commissioner to confirm that the flag's regulations of 2000 | :19:05. | :19:11. | |
do not by law apply to this building, nor the designated days, | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
but rather by the choice of the Assembly Commission, who choose to | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
cruise them as the temp plait they follow. There is no compulsion on | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
the Commission to do that by law. It is their choice. Therefore, the | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
commission could change that policy, that the Commission has by its | :19:29. | :19:34. | |
voting measures a Unionist majority when it comes to voting, and is he | :19:34. | :19:40. | |
telling us that not a single member, including those who went through a | :19:40. | :19:50. | |
:19:50. | :19:57. | ||
process of faexu anger about the absence of the flag on Ulster day... | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
The onset of devolved governments in Northern Ireland has decided to | :20:00. | :20:05. | |
implement the policy, and we shouldn't be any different from | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
that. I can confirm the member - picking up on his second point. In | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
my time on this Assembly Commission I have never had or received any | :20:12. | :20:22. | |
:20:22. | :20:24. | ||
other requests to fly the flags on any other day. Could I ask Mr | :20:24. | :20:29. | |
Ramsey - given the disgraceful scenes outside City Hall yesterday | :20:29. | :20:32. | |
evening - THE SPEAKER: Order, please. That's | :20:32. | :20:37. | |
not a relevant question. Absolutely. Let me finish. Could I ask if the | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
Commission has considered establishing either a subcommittee | :20:41. | :20:46. | |
or an ad hoc committee to discuss the whole flags issue and perhaps | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
give a lead to other - the rest of the region? I certainly agree with | :20:51. | :20:54. | |
the member, certainly. The flags issue is a very emotive and | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
sensitive one and is one the Assembly Commission going forward | :20:58. | :21:01. | |
is always mindful of, and in those circumstances we will reflect and | :21:02. | :21:08. | |
will note members' concerns on that. We always are going forward try to | :21:08. | :21:14. | |
achieve the most consensus on any issue irrespective of how important | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
or how other members would see it as a priority. It is a case that I | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
don't feel it necessary at this stage for the Commission - because | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
they are mandated by the parties to represent each party on the | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
Assembly Commission, and I am sure in our discussions next week, and | :21:28. | :21:33. | |
specifically, on a formal request from a member of this House may | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
lead to some deliberations, may lead to some discussions, but at | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
the present time, I do believe the leadership has been taken by the | :21:41. | :21:45. | |
Assembly Commission by having a designated 15 days, which is | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
consistent with other policies in other public buildings across | :21:48. | :21:50. | |
Northern Ireland. The SDLP's Pat Ramsey. The problem | :21:51. | :21:53. | |
of abandoned roads need to be addressed. That's according to the | :21:53. | :21:55. | |
Regional Development Committee, and it wants the Minister, Danny | :21:56. | :21:58. | |
Kennedy, to urgently address the current backlog of unadopted roads | :21:58. | :22:01. | |
and sewers. The issue was debated in the chamber following an inquiry | :22:01. | :22:09. | |
into the problem. During the course of the inquiry, the Committee were | :22:10. | :22:17. | |
advised there were anywhere between 1,200 and 3,500 unadopted roads and | :22:17. | :22:23. | |
some 1,200 sewerage gains in backlog. DMD and AMA Water are | :22:23. | :22:26. | |
unable to quantify the precise numbers, something which the | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
committee believes to be a significant weakness in itself. | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
Recommendations to negate this weakness have been made. It was | :22:33. | :22:38. | |
also estimated that it would take some 300 million to bring roads up | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
to a standard sufficient to allow for adoption and somewhere in the | :22:42. | :22:49. | |
range of �41 million and �100 million to allow for adoption of | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
waste water schemes. As can be expected in today's economic | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
climate, it is extremely unlikely that these levels of inquestment | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
can be required from central Government. However, the committee | :23:00. | :23:06. | |
is not suggesting that actions cannot be taken to rectify this | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
significant problem, but rather, a coordinated effort by all sectors | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
involved in the process could see major improvements in the most | :23:14. | :23:20. | |
critical cases. The committee does not waste - prohibit recovery in | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
the construction industry. It has received sufficient evidence to | :23:23. | :23:28. | |
indicate that the level of bond coverage is currently insufficient | :23:28. | :23:32. | |
to cover remedial walks. That may be required to bring | :23:32. | :23:36. | |
infrastructures to a standard where they could be adopted. As someone | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
with a background in financial services, I am well aware costs of | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
bonds are based on the financial risk that the financial institution | :23:45. | :23:50. | |
granting the bond has to undertake. We seem in the past to have been | :23:50. | :23:54. | |
reluctant to enforce bonds. In my time as a councillor I find it | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
frustrating when attempting to push for a resolution the road service | :23:58. | :24:02. | |
seems to be reluctant to force the hand of the developer in relation | :24:02. | :24:10. | |
to the bond. For that reason I -- the department reviews a more | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
prompt reaction to calling on the bond. I feel a priority must be | :24:15. | :24:18. | |
given in relation to a prioritisation audit within each | :24:18. | :24:21. | |
council area. We must see this completed as quick as possible. We | :24:21. | :24:26. | |
must also see the basis of priority based on intervention implemented | :24:26. | :24:30. | |
as soon as funds become available. Time and time again each member | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
will know that they get their the run-around in terms of who is | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
responsible for a particular problem, and that needs to end. We | :24:38. | :24:44. | |
need to find a solution arising out of this report that puts an end to | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
that. The committee has made a very sensible recommendation that NOGA | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
coordinates and prioritises an audit to allow for the possibility | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
that unadopted roads and infrastructures causing risk to | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
public health and safety could be addressed by the department and/or | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
Northern Ireland Water. This is in my view a sensible way for us to | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
try and deal with the problems that already exist. The vast majority of | :25:08. | :25:13. | |
private street sites determined for adoption go through without the | :25:13. | :25:16. | |
need for additional intervention from my department. For example, in | :25:16. | :25:22. | |
the past five years, road service has adopted some 416 kilometres of | :25:22. | :25:27. | |
new roads and housing developments, and Northern Ireland Water has | :25:27. | :25:31. | |
adopted sewage schemes in 772 developments. That said, I do | :25:31. | :25:38. | |
recognise there are an increasing number of problem sites - in some | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
cases a consequence of the economic downturn, but I think in all cases | :25:41. | :25:47. | |
as a result of developers washing their hands of their | :25:47. | :25:51. | |
responsibilities, and I'm absolutely determined to tackle the | :25:51. | :25:57. | |
- these developers and that legacy. The primary responsibility for | :25:57. | :26:04. | |
providing new roads and sewers in housing developments lies with the | :26:04. | :26:08. | |
developer, and whilst I have no immediate plans to change the | :26:08. | :26:12. | |
private streets legislation, it doesn't follow that I would rule | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
out changes in the future to broaden the legislation. Developers | :26:17. | :26:21. | |
must have that clear warning in mind when meeting their obligations | :26:21. | :26:28. | |
under existing legislation. Roads Minister Danny Kennedy. And | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
I'm joined in the studio by the Alliance MLA, Stewart Dickson, who | :26:31. | :26:33. | |
sits on the Regional Development Committee. Your committee clearly | :26:33. | :26:37. | |
thinks this issue is a problem. How big a problem? Well, that in itself, | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
is a problem, Mark, because we estimate it's between 1200 and | :26:42. | :26:47. | |
maybe as many as 3,500 properties are affected across Northern | :26:48. | :26:51. | |
Ireland by the issue of unadopted roads and the consequences of that. | :26:51. | :26:58. | |
In fact, we have accepted an offer from and encouraged the Minister to | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
take up an offer from NOLGA, the Local Government Association, to | :27:02. | :27:07. | |
actually survey in the 26 councils across Northern Ireland to actually | :27:07. | :27:10. | |
get an accurate assessment of the number of properties affected. | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
the people who find themselves caught in this trap, it's a very | :27:13. | :27:17. | |
difficult situation for them to deal with. Do you think we need | :27:17. | :27:19. | |
tougher legislation to actually sort the problem out, because the | :27:19. | :27:24. | |
Minister is not particularly keen, but he hasn't ruled it out in the | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
longer term? He hasn't. While it might be nice to contemplate a | :27:28. | :27:30. | |
complete package of legislation to deal with this problem, I think | :27:30. | :27:34. | |
there are things which the Minister can actually do with existing | :27:34. | :27:37. | |
legislation. For example, it's a little disappointing he hasn't | :27:37. | :27:40. | |
taken the opportunity with the current water bill to include | :27:40. | :27:43. | |
Northern Ireland Water in the bonding arrangements, which they're | :27:43. | :27:46. | |
currently not in, so therefore a property could actually have been | :27:46. | :27:52. | |
built and not have a proper water supply delivered to it, and if the | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
building goes - builder goes out of business or something else happens, | :27:55. | :27:59. | |
the householder is left without a proper water supply. Briefly, there | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
are bonds in place... There are. Why can't they be used more | :28:03. | :28:07. | |
effectively? The bonds are in place primarily for the road, but they're | :28:07. | :28:11. | |
not necessarily in place for water, and they are at the end of the day | :28:11. | :28:15. | |
an insurance-based policy, and the builder has to take out the bond. | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
The insurance company has the pay up. I can't let you go without | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
asking you about the flags issue. It was raised here, as we have | :28:22. | :28:26. | |
heard, in Stormont today. This evening, if anything, the situation | :28:26. | :28:29. | |
seems to be getting a little bit more hot and heavy. Yes, that's | :28:29. | :28:36. | |
very disappointing. It's particularly disappointing that | :28:36. | :28:40. | |
alliance people seem to be getting the brunt of this in terms of what | :28:40. | :28:44. | |
is going on. After all, Belfast city council is actually only doing | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
what the DUP and others have agreed to do in Lisburn city council. | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
people need to take a step back? Absolutely. Thank you very much for | :28:53. | :28:55. |