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Delays to flood prevention scheme 'disappointing'

Dawn Grieve Shows a woman and two boys all wearing hi-visability vests over hooded tops Dawn Grieve
Dawn Grieve and (L-R) sons, Billy and Jamie

A woman rescued from her flood-hit home in Londonderry eight years ago has said frustration is growing over delays to a flood defence scheme.

On Wednesday, councillors in Derry were told the scheme for the Drumahoe area of the city is now at its design phase.

It is expected to cost £5m and will not be completed until next year, councillors were also told.

Dawn Grieve said that only added to residents' "frustration and disappointment".

Tow white cars are surrounded by floodwater. One of the cars is balanced on top of the other
Cars stacked on top of each other in Drumahoe, County Londonderry, after flooding in 2017

"We are no further on and we feel other areas in Northern Ireland are getting much quicker results," she told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

Mrs Grieve and two young sons, then aged two and four, were in their flooded home in Ivy Mead when they were rescued by tractor in August 2017.

At that time almost two-thirds of the north west's average monthly rain fell in a single night.

Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded when record rain fell across counties Derry, Tyrone and Donegal.

Further severe flooding caused widespread damage in 2022.

A football stadium is under flood water. An Institute FC mural is painted on a slightly submerged wall
The 2017 flood forced Institute FC to leave their home ground in Drumahoe

Mrs Grieve said residents had been eagerly awaiting movement on the scheme to protect their homes ever since.

"Yesterday the only new information, disappointingly, is the £5m cost. The design stage was to be completed by end of 2025, now it is pushed back to 2026," she said.

She said that left the start and completion of the scheme in full without a definite timeframe.

Mrs Grieve said getting flood insurance was a real problem while "some residents in my area worry about every single rainfall".

"We just feel like it is something that could be fixed, this worry could be put to bed once and for all with the installation of this flood defence," Mrs Grieve said.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said a review of the estimated cost of the scheme was currently being carried out and it was hoped the design phase would be completed in 2026.

If it is considered viable, the scheme is likely to include "a combination of flood walls and embankments as well as some river works will be required to deliver the desired standard of protection".