The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) is currently evaluating the full extent of a significant water leakage in a student accommodation at its Greenmount Campus, Co. Antrim.
The leakage was discovered in the student residential area of Fulton Hall on Sunday, November 3, which resulted in 59 students vacating the accommodation, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said.
CAFRE accommodated over half of the affected students in alternative accommodation either at Greenmount or Loughry, for who daily travel to Greenmount is provided. The remaining students are travelling daily to Greenmount.
“CAFRE is currently evaluating the full extent of the damage, restoration timelines and providing guidance and support to all those affected to ensure that students impacted are fully supported during this period,” the DAERA spokesman said.
Concerns have been raised over the incident by the DUP’s Carla Lockhart, Upper Bann MP, who is the party’s Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs spokesperson in the House of Commons.
The incident especially “inconvenienced” students who cannot drive and others who live long distances from the college, she said and added that the bus journey from Loughry to Greenmount “represents a distance of over 65 miles return and takes approximately two hours every day”.
Lockhart said she has written to Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, expressing her concerns and urging him to resolve the matter as “quickly as possible”.
“This is a very unfortunate turn of events which has caused major damage to dormitory-style accommodation at Greenmount. The minister needs to act fast to mitigate the impact that this disruption will have on students and their education.
“Students and parents involved have been left anxious. For many students, enrolling at Greenmount represents their first time away from home,” Lockhart said.
