Inadequate wastewater infrastructure in parts of Northern Ireland has been the main topic of discussion during a meeting with NI Water and the Royal Society of Ulster Architects.

RSUA met with Sara Venning, Chief Executive of NI Water and members of her senior team to discuss the challenges facing architects due to these wastewater issues.

Currently new building projects in certain areas of Northern Ireland are not permitted to proceed due to insufficient capacity in the wastewater infrastructure. At the meeting timeframes for improvements to wastewater infrastructure were discussed and how this will enable development in particular geographic areas over the next few years.

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It was agreed that a follow up meeting focusing specifically on the Belfast area would be beneficial.

RSUA and NI Water also discussed the following:

• How do we avoid wasting people's time trying to build/get planning permission in areas where there will be no improvement to water infrastructure capacity for a number of years

• How do we make sure that NI Water assessments of 'no additional burden on the system' are undertaken in a reasonable timescale and at a reasonable cost.

The agenda also included a brief discussion on climate change. However it was agreed that a separate meeting was required on this subject.