AQO 1307/22-27 Oral question to the Minister for Infrastructure
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure what budget has been allocated by his Department to address the safety and access issues on the Glenshesk Road, Ballycastle.
Asked by Sian Mulholland MLA on 28 November 2024
- Answered
- Oral
- Answered in the Chamber
- Tabled
- 28 November 2024
- Answer due by
- 10 December 2024
- Answered
- 10 December 202412 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for Infrastructure
- Priority question
- No
Answer
Answered in the Assembly Chamber on 10 December 2024. Extract from the Official Report (Hansard), including any supplementary questions:
Mr O'Dowd
In order to address the safety issues on the Glenshesk Road, I have allocated £275,000 to manage the damage associated with the slippage on 27 March 2024. That funding will facilitate surveys and enabling works and will allow for the completion of the detailed design throughout this financial year. Further funding will then be sought from next year’s structural maintenance allocation, once the detailed design is complete and a final estimate of the construction costs can be developed. I can advise that funding was also provided to manage the impact of the most recent slippage further along Glenshesk Road associated with storm Bert. I am pleased to confirm that remedial works are now complete at that location.
Ms Mulholland
Thank you, Minister. I have spoken about this matter a couple of times before, and it is just because of the impact that it is having on that farming community. Does the Minister know whether further or additional measures will be put in place to prevent further damage from any other storm-related incidents along that road? We know that the situation is created by the increased rainfall and the increased volume of water going under the concourse of the road. Will additional measures be put in place before the final upgrade and works?
Mr O'Dowd
We will examine how we can secure the road. The Member, and other Members, may have seen the video footage taken of the most recent damage to the road. It is significant. The topography of the area makes it very difficult to remedy, and, due to the intensity of some of the rainstorms that we have had recently, material has simply washed out from underneath the road. We will examine it to see how we can secure the road in the long term.