Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has secured £11 million in June monitoring to support the expansion of wastewater capacity across Northern Ireland.

The funding will enable the connection of over 2,000 new homes in Derry city as part of the H2 project over the next two to three years, along with an additional 1,000 connections in the Waterside area.

This investment is a key step in unlocking infrastructure to support future residential development across the region.

On a visit to the city,  Minister Kimmins said: "A cross departmental working group led by my department and working in collaboration with NI Water and the NI Housing Executive has identified a range of housing projects to unlock wastewater capacity for housing connections and this includes these connections for the Derry area.  

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"This means since Autumn 2024 my Department has been able to unlock wastewater capacity to enable future wastewater connections for almost 5,000 new homes, with 2,300 new wastewater connections already enabled through the allocation of an additional £19.5million to NI Water from October monitoring."

The Minister also referred to a previous announcement, during which she said that NI Water's application of innovative solutions to wastewater treatment in Newry will also connect another 400 properties to the network.

"I am encouraged that the company is seeking to develop this innovation for other areas in the North where getting connections is an issue," said the Minister.

"We continue to face challenges in the delivery of water and waste-water and I am continuing with my three-pronged plan to tackle this issue. This involves working with Executive colleagues to get the necessary funding for this essential service. I have taken forward a consultation on developer contributions which has just closed and I have in recent weeks introduced a SuDS new bill which will make provision for SuDS to the Assembly."

The Minister concluded: "This development in Derry and recent innovative work in Newry demonstrate what is possible. Working in partnership with NI Water and others, I will continue to take every opportunity we have to ensure wastewater connections are available to support the development of housing and the wider economy."