Belfast Mayor joins in floods protest

Belfast’s Sinn Fein Lord Mayor Alex Maskey took to the picket line today to protest at flooding in the south of the city.

He joined residents from the lower Ormeau Road area in a protest outside the city centre offices of the Water Service over flooding which left raw sewage floating in their homes last Friday.

The Water Service has agreed to meet community representatives from the lower Ormeau Road to discuss the flooding before the end of the week.

More than 20 homes were flooded during torrential rain on Friday - the third time in three years they have been hit.

The Water Service said the rainfall during the afternoon storm on Friday was ‘‘wholly exceptional and no drainage or sewerage system would have been able to cope with the volume of rain that fell’’.

But they said a new drainage and water pumping system which they hope to have in operation in the area before the end of the year would mitigate the problem.

However Mr Maskey, who represents lower Ormeau on Belfast City Council, was unimpressed.

‘‘I was given these very same assurances in these offices no less than six months ago,’’ he said.

He said he had to encourage the residents in the area to support the work carried out by the Water Service in the area. ‘‘This is the thanks they got.’’

Mr Maskey added: ‘‘I have expressed my own anger today that despite our efforts to work with the department, their response has been, I think, nothing less than disgraceful.’’

Meanwhile Mr Maskey is planning another protest tomorrow, this time against the boom in the erection of mobile phone masts in South Belfast.

The MLA, who represents west Belfast in the Assembly but is expected to seek election in south Belfast at the elections next May, will be handing out leaflets in the Ormeau Road highlighting the mobile mast issue.

He said legislation changes coming into effect next month allowing city councillors to scrutinise planning applications for masts did not go far enough.

‘‘The new legislation is not retrospective which means that masts erected before August will be allowed to stay in place.

‘‘This, coupled with the fact that the only two issues that will need to be taken into consideration to award full planning permission will be the effect of a mast on property value and the effect on the scenery of an area, amounts to an unacceptable situation,’’ he said.

Mr Maskey suggested encouraging mast sharing between mobile companies would reduce the need for large numbers of masts.