Drainage (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2005

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 4:17 pm on 26 May 2005.

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Photo of Lord Naseby Lord Naseby Conservative 4:17, 26 May 2005

My Lords, the Minister's antecedents are in local government, as are mine. While we understand the situation in England extremely clearly, I am not sure that the Section 106 agreements that we are familiar with necessarily apply in Northern Ireland. I say that as a former PPS in Northern Ireland.

My question is in relation to the objection from the developers. As someone who was formerly a non-executive director of a major contractor in England, I wonder where the boundary of charge is. I do not know where it is in Northern Ireland but there is an awful lot of difference between a drainage charge in relation to the perimeter of the site that is being developed and a drainage charge for the main sewer.

It is a very bold Minister who suggests that it is all carte blanche and straightforward and easy, based on the English precedent. I suspect that it is not quite as simple as the noble Lord suggests.