Down the tubes: Vital upgrade works to Belfast, Holywood and Newtownabbey sewage plants meant to combat severe Lough pollution 'mothballed' as Stormont budget cuts bite
Vital upgrade works to four Greater Belfast sewage plants as well as the city's huge storm flood tunnel have been “mothballed” by Stormont budget cuts.
A massive set of overhauls to treatment works in Belfast, Holywood and Newtownabbey were all due to take place over the next couple of years, while the capital city’s six-mile underground storm tunnel was to be substantially extended.
The projects were supposed to combat severe pollution problems that see more than 17 million tonnes of untreated or partially treated wastewater dumped into Belfast Lough every year, as well improving drinking water quality and clearing up bad smells.
According to NI Water, all of them have been called off due to cuts the Department for Infrastructure brought in near the end of 2024.
Instead, the water company states it will embark on a “programme of maintenance” later this year.
But it’s understood that without the upgrades, four Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) around the shore of Belfast Lough, crucial to the sewer system serving hundreds of thousands of people in and around the city, are in danger of being declared “non-compliant” with legislation by 2027.
The four – Belfast WwTW by the city’s docks, Sydenham WwTW in north Belfast, Kinnegar WwTW in Holywood and Whitehouse WwTW in Newtownabbey – are also vital to the lough itself, where pollution problems are getting increasingly serious.
They’re not up to scratch, however; NI Water has said Belfast WwTW has “no capacity to complete routine maintenance or cope with unexpected shocks”, while the Kinnegar and Whitehouse facilities have “significant capacity problems” and are struggling to cope with growing populations in their respective areas.
As part of a long-term NI Water plan called “Living With Water In Belfast”, all four treatment plants were due to be upgraded.
And Belfast’s £160m six-mile underground storm water tunnel, designed to stop inner-city areas flooding during heavy rain, was to be extended by almost two miles.
Near the end of last year, however, the Department for Infrastructure announced Living With Water In Belfast was being put on hold after projected costs for the full 12 years of the plan spiralled by well over half a billion pounds.
NI Water has now written to area councils stating that the Greater Belfast treatment plant and storm tunnel jobs have been mothballed.
Some of the upgrades were already fairly advanced, with design teams and contractors appointed.
But in NI Water correspondence seen by the News Letter, an official states there is now “no investment available to undertake any of the major projects included within Living With Water In Belfast”.
Specifically naming the four WwTW overhauls and the storm tunnel extension, the official added: “NI Water has begun to mothball all these projects.”
They’re now described as “paused indefinitely”, though the official added that the water company plans to keep pressing Stormont for funding to try to get the jobs back on track.
As a result, NI Water wants councils to push the projects through planning approval, so they can get started if money becomes available.
The issues are due to be discussed by councils in the affected areas over the coming weeks.
Initially budgeted at £1.4bn when it was first put forward in 2021, by last year the projected price of carrying out the Living With Water In Belfast plan had risen to £2.1bn.
Put on hold due to mounting costs, Stormont officials eventually concluded that while the plan is needed, it is “no longer achievable” within its original 12-year timescale.
NI Water was contacted, but pointed the News Letter to a document it published before last year’s budget cuts were announced.