A BALMORAL councillor has said the sewage system in South Belfast needs “updated and modernised” following “serious flooding” in the Stockmans Lane area.

Sinn Féin Councillor Geraldine McAteer attended the scene on Wednesday night where five houses were “impacted severely” by heavy rainfall. The flooding came after the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for rain throughout most of the North on Wednesday.  

The warning suggested that the rainfall could cause some flooding and disruption through to Thursday.

On Wednesday night, the Fire Service attended the scene of the flooding on Stockmans Lane, where they pumped water from homes and into Musgrave Park. The Rivers Agency provided sandbags to prevent more water from entering people’s property. 

Cllr McAteer said a “great deal of water mixed with sewage” had flooded the homes of a number of vulnerable people.

"We are going to get City Council out within a day or two to sterilise the back gardens because they are full of sewage,” she said.

“The wastewater system in South Belfast badly needs to be updated and modernised. It’s antiquated and the amount of flooding, certainly in Balmoral, in and around Stockmans, Finaghy Road North, Ashton and Ardmore continues, and this is an unbearable burden for many, many people.”

Meanwhile, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has activated the Flooding Emergency payment scheme, which offers a £1,000 payment for affected householders. The Department for Communities has said the payment is “to ensure homes are made habitable as quickly as possible,” adding that it “is not a compensation payment".“

"If you feel that you may be entitled to a payment, contact your Council as soon as possible and they will arrange for an urgent inspection of your property,” a department spokesperson said. “If the Council decides that your claim is eligible, you will receive you payment promptly.”