Drumahoe flood prevention scheme delay ‘disappointing’

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”.

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.

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 BBC has contacted the Department for Infrastructure for comment.