DUP Infrastructure Spokesperson, Michelle McIlveen MLA, has launched a new Party consultation paper entitled ‘Northern Ireland – A new era of Infrastructure Investment and Delivery’.
Michelle McIlveen said;
“As we look forward to celebrating Northern Ireland’s centenary, we
must also look beyond 2021 and to the Northern Ireland we want to build.
Our next century will need a modern infrastructure, fit to meet
society’s changing needs and aspirations.
This consultation paper focuses on key themes of Water, Energy, Road
and Digital but within these headlines there are a number of equally
important issues, to which we also welcome contributions. We are acutely
aware of the opportunities, for example, presented by the ‘Green
Recovery’ and will seek to harness these as we work through the impacts
of Covid-19. We must ensure that whatever decisions are taken are made
for long term benefit.
Northern Ireland suffered from a lack of investment through the
decades of violence. While this is being addressed, we have much more to
do to meet the needs of communities and businesses. This paper is
intended to map out a way forward in these critical areas of
infrastructure, to give different voices the opportunity to explain how
they believe we can fund them and do so both efficiently and cost
effectively.
The DUP demonstrated its’ commitment to infrastructure with the
Confidence and Supply monies for digital and road infrastructure but we
need to do more. . Likewise, while we need to improve the quality of our
roads, we wish to open the discussion on how alternative forms of
transport can be best served. The success of the Greenway network is an
example of this. There has been a lot of commentary around future models
of water and waste services, we need to address this. Finally while we
welcomed the recent decision on the North-South Interconnector, a much
wider debate on future energy provision is required.
My colleagues and I look forward to engaging with a wide range of
stakeholders throughout the consultation process and following its
conclusion we will produce a paper reflective of twenty-first century
needs.
I would encourage all interested parties to get in touch and engage in this consultation"
Note:
Download the consultation here: