DESPITE the fact some Fermanagh residents have been battling flood waters right into the mouth of Christmas, the county has been completely left out of a new government flood management plan.
Many parts of the county have long faced flooding following heavy rain, and while some alleviation work has been carried out in some parts over recent years, other areas are still plagued with the persistent problem.
One of the worst hit areas is Boho, which was flooded again just last week, causing serious disruption and even danger on roads to local residents.
However, neither Boho nor any other local area was included in the second cycle of the Flood Risk Management Plan (2021-2027), which was published by the Department of Infrastructure (DfI) on Monday this week.
“The plan outlines objectives and measures to manage flood risk that will benefit citizens across all of Northern Ireland,” the said Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon.
However, there are no planned works in the plan for Fermanagh at all.
The plan does mention the local council district, with some minor works for the Omagh area, and it also stated DfI Rivers was advising against any planning or zoning of in certain local areas prone to flooding and would be working with the Council on its local development plan.
MLA Jemma Dolan, who has opened a petition on change.org calling on Minister Mallon to release funding and all statutory bodies to work together to find solutions to the flooding in Boho, called for local people to have their voices heard.
To read more on this story see this week’s Fermanagh Herald. Can’t get to the shop to collect your copy? No problem! You can download a copy straight to your device by following this link https://bit.ly/3gOl8G0
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