RSUA has submitted a response to the Department for Infrastructure’s (DfI) public consultation on Developer Contributions for Wastewater Infrastructure, which closed on 27 June 2025.
This followed a meeting of members to gather feedback in order to help inform RSUA’s response.
RSUA’s key points are:
- What DfI is proposing is not an introduction but an extension of the current model of developer contributions.
- Currently NI Water accepts developer contributions for some types of wastewater infrastructure upgrades. RSUA believes that NI Water should be able to accept developer contributions for any type of wastewater infrastructure.
- Currently only developers working in areas with constrained wastewater capacity are required to make developer contributions. This creates a postcode lottery. The playing field can be levelled to some extent by charging developers working in unconstrained areas a wastewater infrastructure levy.
- A wastewater infrastructure levy should apply to all development types, not just housing.
- Funds raised in unconstrained areas should be used to offset developer contribution costs in constrained areas, helping unlock stalled developments rather than simply boosting NI Water’s budget.
- Developer contributions will only touch the sides in addressing this problem. The burden of paying for new public wastewater infrastructure should, in the most part, be shared across wider society. We need a “Sewage Charge” or perhaps a “Lough Neagh Charge”.
To view RSUA’s three-page, easy-read response to the consultation please click here.
If you have any questions or comments about the response, please contact Curtis Large, RSUA Policy and Public Affairs Officer, at curtis@rsua.org.uk
