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Regional Development Committee Inquiry into Unadopted Roads in Northern Ireland Together with the Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee relating to the Report and the Minutes of Evidence Ordered by the Regional Development Committee to be printed 7th November 2012 Report: NIA 44/11-15 (Regional Development Committee) REPORT EMBARGOED UNTIL COMMENCEMENT OF THE DEBATE IN PLENARY Mandate 2011/15 Second Report Membership and Powers Membership and Powers Powers The Committee for Regional Development is a Statutory Departmental Committee established in accordance with paragraphs 8 and 9 of Strand One of the Belfast Agreement and under Assembly Standing Order No 48. The Committee has a scrutiny, policy development and consultation role with respect to the Department of Regional Development and has a role in the initiation of legislation. The Committee has 11 members, including a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson, and a quorum of 5. The Committee has power: ■ to consider and advise on Departmental budgets and Annual Plans in the context of the overall budget allocation; ■ to approve relevant secondary legislation and take the Committee Stage of relevant primary legislation; ■ to call for persons and papers; ■ to initiate enquiries and make reports; and ■ to consider and advise on matters brought to the Committee by the Minister of Regional Development. Membership The Committee has 11 members, including a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson, and a quorum of five members. The membership of the Committee is as follows ■ Mr Jimmy Spratt MLA (Chairperson) ■ Mr Sean Lynch MLA (Deputy Chairperson) 6 ■ Mr Alex Easton 8 ■ Mr John Dallat 5 ■ Mr Stewart Dickson MLA 1 ■ Mr Ross Hussey MLA 4 ■ Mrs Dolores Kelly MLA ■ Mr Declan McAleer 7 ■ Mr Ian McCrea MLA ■ Mr David McNarry MLA 2,3 ■ Mr Cathal Ó hOisín MLA 1 With effect from 06 June 2011 Mr Stewart Dickson replaced Mr Trevor Lunn 2 With effect from 26 September 2011 Mr Michael Copeland replaced Mr Mike Nesbitt 3 With effect from 06 February 2012 Mr David McNarry replaced Mr Michael Copeland 4 With effect from 23 April 2012 Mr Ross Hussey replaced Mr Roy Beggs 5 With effect from 23 April 2012 Mr John Dallat replaced Mr Joe Byrne 6 With effect from 02 July 2012 Mr Seán Lynch replaced Mr Pat Doherty as Deputy Chairperson 7 With effect from 10 September 2012 Mr Declan McAleer was appointed as a Member 8 With effect from 01 October 2012 Mr Alex Easton replaced Mr Stephen Moutray i Inquiry into Unadopted Roads in Northern Ireland ii Table of Contents Table of Contents Membership and Powers i List of Abbreviations and Acronyms used in the Report iv Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Summary of Recommendations 3 Key Issues 4 Appendix 1 Minutes of Proceedings 9 Appendix 2 Minutes of Evidence 23 Appendix 3 Written Submissions 103 Appendix 4 Memoranda and papers from the Department for Regional Development (DRD) 193 Appendix 5 Memoranda and papers from others 217 Appendix 6 Research Papers 249 Appendix 7 Other documents relevant to the Inquiry 257 iii Inquiry into Unadopted Roads in Northern Ireland List of Abbreviations and Acronyms used in this Report CEF Construction Employers Federation CRD Committee for Regional Development DRD Department for Regional Development EU European Union GB Great Britain MLA Member of the Legislative Assembly NHBC National House Building Council NIEA Northern Ireland Environment Agency NILGA Northern Ireland Local Government Association NIW Northern Ireland Water iv Executive Summary Executive Summary 1. The Committee for Regional Development (the Committee/CRD) received a presentation on the increasing numbers of unadopted roads in Northern Ireland from the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) on 18 January 2012. Following this presentation, the Committee agreed to undertake an Inquiry into Unadopted Roads 2. During the course of the inquiry, the Committee were advised that there were anything between 1,200 and 3,500 unadopted roads and some 1,200 sewerage schemes in backlog. DRD and NIW are unable to quantify the precise numbers which the Committee believes to be a significant weakness in itself. Recommendations to negate this weakness have been made and are detailed later in this report. 3. It was estimated that it would take some £300 million to bring roads up to a standard sufficient to allow for adoption and somewhere in the range of £41 million and £100 million to allow for adoption of sewerage and waste water schemes. As could be expected in today’s economic climate, it is extremely unlikely that these levels of investment can be acquired from central government. However, the Committee is not suggesting that actions cannot be taken to rectify this significant problem but rather a coordinated effort by all sectors involved in the process could see major improvements in the most critical cases. 4. The Committee believes that there are a number of factors that need to be addressed, firstly, to prevent additional numbers being added to the list and, secondly, to significantly reduce the backlogs currently being experienced. These include a review of the main statutory instruments. The Committee agrees that the Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 and the Private Streets (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) 1992 are outdated and require amending to both update them and to ensure that they offer protection to consumers and that they are adequate to address the issues surrounding unfinished developments and roads. 5. In addition, the Committee is extremely concerned that there is no mandatory requirement in the Water and Sewerage Services (Order) 2006 for a developer to submit a drainage plan to Building Control or to even enter into an agreement with NIW in respect of a bond. The Committee considers these to be major flaws that need redressing urgently. 6. In addition to the above, the Committee has made a number of other recommendations which it believes will benefit all stakeholders involved in this process. These include: ■ The bond limit and earlier release of bonded capital works where the work is incomplete within a prescribed period; ■ Prioritisation of unadopted roads and sewers where risks to public health and safety arise; ■ Enhancement of the property certificate to offer greater protection in the case of reselling of properties; ■ Establishing necessary codes of practice, protocols and guidelines for vendors and/ or residents in developments where roads or sewers remain unadopted. These should include what questions the legal profession should be asking on vendors/residents behalf and a mechanism whereby those members of the public impacted by unfinished developments can trigger enforcement; ■ Establishment of a proactive forum to coordinate the addressing of the risks associated with actual and potential unfinished roads and sewers. 7. The Committee believes that the recommendations made within the report are proactive and has avoided attributing blame. The Committee would hope that this collectively responsible approach will be received and echoed by all stakeholders in this process. 1 Inquiry into Unadopted Roads in Northern Ireland Introduction 8. At its meeting on 18 January 2012, the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee for Regional Development agreed to commence an inquiry into Un-adopted Roads in Northern Ireland. 9. For the purposes of this inquiry, an un-adopted road was defined as: ■ One where a street planning function has been exercised, a bond has been placed under the Private Streets (NI) Order 1980 and the Department is not satisfied that the street has been sewered, levelled, paved, channelled, made good and lighted. 10. The Terms of Reference for the Report were agreed as follows: ■ To identify the extent, types, distance and costs of bringing unadopted roads to a level where the Department is content to adopt; ■ To define the current processes required to ensure that undeveloped roads are constructed to a standard that allows for statutory adoption by the Department; ■ To identify the key stakeholders in the above processes and all statutory and other processes and responsibilities they have accountability for; ■ To review the legislative processes in place within Northern Ireland to ensure that it meets with all EU and other jurisdictional and policy requirements; and ■ To benchmark the Northern Ireland legislative processes against those currently in place in the UK and the Republic of Ireland 11. On 2 February 2012, the Committee inserted signposts in the Belfast Telegraph, Irish News and News Letter seeking written evidence on the Inquiry by 16 March 2012. The Committee also wrote to key stakeholders with the same request. 12. On 7 February 2012, during a debate in the Chamber of the NI Assembly, the Minister for Regional Development made the following statement: “I recognise the concerns of local homeowners who find themselves in new housing developments, where developers have left roads and sewerage systems unfinished. Roads Service and NI Water are making use of the current legislation and procedures to address these problems but this process takes time to complete. I will ensure Roads Service and NI Water officials are available to the Committee throughout their inquiry process.” 13. During the period covered by this Report, the Committee considered written submissions from in excess of 25 organisations and two further submissions by MLAs. A copy of the submissions received is included at Appendix 3. 14. The Committee also heard oral evidence at four meetings between 18 April 2012 and 6 June 2012 from the following organisations: ■ The Department for Regional Development ■ NILGA ■ NIW ■ The National House Building Council (NHBC) ■ The Construction Employers Federation (CEF) ■ The Consumer Council ■ The Law Society ■ The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) 15. The relevant extracts from the Minutes of Proceedings are included at Appendix 1. Minutes of the evidence sessions are included at Appendix 2. The Committee would wish to thank all those who provided both written and oral evidence. 2 Summary of Recommendations Summary of Recommendations 16.

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