To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether he intends to investigate upstream land management as a possible way to mitigate against further floods in Newcastle.

My Department is taking forward the Shimna Flood Alleviation Scheme and this project will involve the construction of approximately 1400m of flood defences and cost approximately £6.5million.

As part of the Scheme development my Department considered and investigated a number of flood alleviation options including the use of upstream storage to mitigate against further flooding in Newcastle. However, the use of upstream storage was ruled out due to the topography of the catchment. The most feasible option was found to be the provision of flood walls to prevent water from leaving the Shimna River, both upstream and downstream of the Bryansford Road Bridge.