Public views are sought on Portadown Flood Alleviation Scheme

Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd is urging the local community in Portadown to voice their opinion in a public consultation process.

The principle aim of the Portadown Flood Alleviation Scheme is to deliver a scheme that will reduce the impact of fluvial flooding from the River Bann and some of its tributaries on properties in the Portadown area.

An Environmental Statement for the scheme has already been produced and was consulted on in Spring 2023.

Since then, an additional site has been identified at Baltylum Meadows and designs have been further developed to address comments received during the initial consultation.

The Department for Infrastructure would now like the public’s views on this addendum to the original Environmental Statement.

The consultation is available at www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/articles/portadown-flood-alleviation-scheme until May 27.

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Minister O’Dowd said: “Portadown has faced flooding episodes over the last 30-40 years. This includes during Autumn 2023 when there was widespread flooding across the region after the wettest October in over 153 years of records which resulted in many watercourses in the south and east of the country rising to record levels.

“This is a vitally important scheme with proposals being developed to reduce the risk of river flooding to over 380 homes and businesses at 21 different sites across the Portadown area.

“Design of the project is nearing completion but we would like local community input. I urge local residents and the business community to take part in this public engagement exercise and share feedback on this addendum to the Environmental Statement for the proposed scheme.”