Authorities are at a loss over a road that continues to deteriorate because they can’t work out who owns it – the problem means the road remains covered in potholes
Businesses have been left in limbo by a road covered in potholes because it can’t be fixed until someone works out who owns it. The road in Coleraine, County Derry, is home to a petrol station and a number of local businesses.
Local independent MLA Claire Sugden said the road could eventually be shut if it continues to deteriorate. Following an exchange on the issue with Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins, Ms Sugden said that despite repeated attempts to find out who owns the road – it appears to “genuinely” belong to no one.
“If you’ve driven into Riverside Retail Park in Coleraine, you’ll know the road I mean,” she said. “It’s in awful condition. Potholes, deep cracks, constant wear. Thousands use it every day and many have damaged their vehicles.
“So why hasn’t it been repaired? The problem is that no one owns it. Genuinely. After years of checking records, no legal owner can be identified. That means it’s not a public road and the Department for Infrastructure can’t legally fix it. There is a way for it to be adopted, but only if it’s first brought up to standard.”
She told Belfast Live: “So, whenever it was built in the first instance obviously there was an owner at that stage – but as it’s [the wider retail site] gotten bigger, it’s gotten broken up into different parts. As it’s been divided up over the years when maps were drawn up, and this can happen where it’s essentially fallen off the map, it’s fallen between the cracks. It essentially means that now in 2025, however many years since it was first developed, there’s no owner now because it just was squeezed out of the map somehow.”
She added: “Ultimately it’s going to get to a point where it’s going to be closed off because the police will see it as unsafe, and then at that stage we have chaos in the town because it’s [the traffic in Coleraine] already bad.”
At Stormont this week, Ms Sugden had asked the Infrastructure Minister “whether there is any discretion in policy or legislation to repair roads that are not in public ownership but have a significant public use and cause damage to cars without there being any right of redress?”
The Minister said: “As the Member may be aware, the issue around unadopted roads is an ongoing one. We see it in relation to retail parks or housing developments. There are many examples in my constituency, so I share the frustrations. However, there is a process that we have to go through with unadopted roads. Essentially, it is the responsibility of the developer or whoever put the road in place in the first instance.
“In areas where there are shared roads, it looks like the responsibility can be shared between the various residents who might live along the road, and there are things there. The road needs to be brought up to a certain standard so that it can be adopted by my Department, which can then take on the maintenance going forward. There are so many unique issues around unadopted roads, but I am happy to consider those specifics and provide a more detailed answer, if that would be useful for the Member.”
Ms Sugden continued: “I have written to many of your predecessors about a road at Riverside retail park in Coleraine. The issue in that instance is that we cannot ascertain who owns the road, so there is no right of redress. It is getting to the point where the road is becoming unsafe, and I expect that the PSNI might look at closing it. How do we help people in situations where ownership cannot be ascertained?”
Ms Kimmins said: “Again, it is a difficult one, because, essentially, the policy is that, where the road is not adopted by the Department, we cannot take control of that. When we talk about the best use of public money, that is an issue, because, were we to intervene, all sorts of issues could arise. Intervening is also challenging given the funding constraints. I do not really know the answer in the specific situation where no one has responsibility. I am not sure of the specifics, such as whether the road is within or outside the retail park.”
She added: “I am happy to look at it again to get some clarity around that. Speaking from experience of a retail park in my constituency, I know that the owner of the park had responsibility for those issues. However, if there is no one in place, we could, potentially, look at what other options are available and come back to you.”