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Two contradictory flooding reviews and a third interpretation thrown in for good measure - that was the apparent outcome of the recent council emergency meeting in the wake of the devastating floods across the district.
While the initial media reaction following the November 6 Emergency Council meeting was to publicise agreement amongst councillors for an immediate independent review of the council’s response, when the dust settled, it’s not so straightforward, while it seems council management have their own idea of when a review will take place.
Two contradictory flooding reviews
At the meeting, it was evident from councillors’ input that there were two differing council approaches to the recent flooding across Newry, Mourne and Down - management noticeable by their absence on the ground in Newry before and during the devastating flooding, but there were no such issues in Downpatrick or Newcastle.
At the meeting, councillors backed a Sinn Féin/Alliance Party Notice of Motion that a “robust and comprehensive review of its [council] response throughout these [flooding] incidents should commence immediately” and that “Council further agrees to write to other relevant statutory agencies that were involved in the response to carry out their own reviews.”
An SDLP ‘amendment’ was agreed calling for an “independent review…with all agencies feeding into the review.”
So, to an observer, councillors had agreed to an ‘independent review’ of the ‘council’s response’ to the flooding that would ‘start immediately’ with statutory bodies (DfI Rivers, PSNI etc) feeding into the council’s review of its own performance - as part of the council’s or their own reviews was unclear…but let’s not complicate it.
Seems straightforward enough…if only.
The Notion of Motion emerging out of council, which Newry.ie has had sight of, has not one, but two flooding reviews which contradict one another.
One the one hand, councillors have agreed, “a robust and comprehensive review of its response throughout these [flooding] incidents should commence immediately” and, “Council further agrees to write to other relevant statutory agencies that were involved in the response to carry out their own reviews”.
But a few lines later in the Motion, with the left hand obviously not knowing what the right hand is doing, councillors have also agreed “that an Independent Review of the serious flooding incident be conducted with all agencies feeding into the review…”
That’s two different types of review - one ‘internal’ and one ‘independent’.
Just made up
To add to the mix, in rejecting a Newry.ie Freedom of Information request for documents relating to Newry Canal, council management responded that, “An Emergency Notice of Motion was discussed at a Council meeting on 6th November 2023, where it was agreed that a multi-agency review of unprecedented flooding in Newy [sic], South Down and Armagh will be undertaken and published at a later date, gathering evidence from emergency responders, the voluntary sector, government organisations, special interest groups including businesses, community representatives and elected members.
Firstly, as outlined above, councillors did not agree a multi-agency review - they agreed to both an ‘internal’ and an ‘independent’ review of its own response.
Secondly, councillors certainly did not agree a review would take place, with the report published ‘at a later date’ - “Immediately” was the actual word used.
And thirdly, while the participation of the impacted business community and the wider public would be expected, and indeed crucial to any review, they were not mentioned by councillors in the Motion, and no Terms of Reference for a review were produced.
Almost political silence
Since the November 6 meeting, and on the assumption that having put the Notice of Motion for a Review forward, the councillors had thought the matter through, Newry.ie has asked Sinn Féin councillor Oonagh Hanlon (Notice of Motion proposer), Cllr Andy McMurray (Alliance and seconder) and Cllr Gareth Sharvin (SDLP and ‘amendment’) multiple times what sort of review they envisaged.
Would a "robust and comprehensive review" be carried out by the council itself and if so, would the full results of the council’s own review be made public?
Would this be another restricted internal council document for certain eyes only and not the public?
Would any internal council review include participation by members of the business communities and any other interested parties with links to the canal/rivers around Newry & Downpatrick and the review made available to the public in full?
Or would any review be carried out by an external, independent consultant(s) with no ties to the council and that it will be open to participation by businesses impacted by the flooding, their representatives - for instance Newry BID and Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade and the likes of consultants and groups with knowledge of the canal and rivers around Newry and Downpatrick and the media?
Surprisingly, considering their input, only Cllr McMurray replied.
He said he was content to second the motion and the call for an independent review.
“Such a review is important to ensure that questions external to Council can be answered, as well as ensuring that any learnings from the event can be made,” he said.
“Given global warming, we need to assume that such events will happen again, as such Council needs both to ensure that learnings are made, that these are acted upon, and structures put in place that they can be enacted again.
“Lessons learned should be developed into policy to guide future actions. Any review should include an opportunity for Councillors to ask questions of agencies in a public forum, such as the special meetings which already take place, as well as the publication of any written report to be made available to the public.
“While there is a need that such a review happens as soon as possible, the undeniable focus of attention should be on and with the residents and business owners within the district that have been affected by this flood.”
