Grants will give NI rural properties access to borehole water

Rural properties in Northern Ireland should soon be able to apply for a grant to access water from a borehole, if they are too far to be connected to the water supply system.

Applications are expected to open for the Rural Bore Holes Scheme on 6 June and remain open until 29 June, with further application periods expected annually for the next three years.

The scheme is part of the region’s ‘Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Framework’. It arises because many NI properties cannot afford to make a connection to the nearest public water supply and some areas do not have mains water at all.

Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill told the Northern Ireland Assembly that householders would be eligible for the grant towards the cost of a bore well if the cost of their water mains requisition exceeds £10,500, as that will ensure parity with householders who receive the maximum allowance for a water mains requisition.

Properties must have been built before 1 January 2000 or have replaced domestic properties built before 1 January 2000 that were declared unfit for human habitation.

O’Neill said the scheme had been devised alongside the Department for Regional Development, which has responsibility for water supply. She said it would not replace the aim to extend the public water supply but provide leverage to encourage its extension.