A cleaner and greener borough

The Environment Agency has teamed up with Rochdale Online to give you a rundown of all the key news and developments from all of our local activities that you may have missed, plus the latest information on any upcoming events that you can get involved in. 

Here’s what we have been up to in Rochdale during March and April:

Three trees removed, 33 debris screens cleared and the risk of flooding reduced

Every day, our operations team head out on the road to perform the tasks needed to keep our communities safe from floods. This includes tasks such as removing blockages and clearing grids to ensure rivers remain clear.

Over the last month, our team has removed trees from the River Roch, Buckley Brook, and Wardle Brook, dealt with a pollution incident in Fox Hill Brook, removed gravel from Buckley Brook and cleared 33 debris screens across the local area. These everyday activities may seem like small changes but they make a big difference to the Rochdale and Bury communities when it comes to flood risk.

Taking pride in the community and tackling flood risk

Scores of people toting rubbish and recycling bags joined Team Environment Agency on 21 April to clean up the streets as the residents of Rochdale came together to take action on the impact fly-tipping has on flood risk.

Volunteers from Rochdale Environmental Action Group, the Flood Action Group, the National Flood Forum, Rochdale Council of Mosques and Rochdale Parish Churches got stuck in clearing litter and fly-tipping from the river area near to Gowers Street, off Entwisle Road.

An entire Environment Agency truck was filled to the brim with rubbish collected which, not only improves the local environment but provides a vital tool in the fight against flood risk.

The event was organised in partnership between Faiths4Change and the Environment Agency who are working to engage communities with flood risk in Rochdale, Bolton and Bury.

Watch this space for similar events planned in the summer.

Going green for Greater Manchester

As part of our role across Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire, we are continually working with our key partners to ensure that, towns like Rochdale, and the whole of the North West become one of the leading green regions in the country. One of the most significant ways we are doing this is by playing a part in the Green Summit.

Following his election, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, announced his intentions to make Greater Manchester one of the leading green cities in Europe. To help realise these ambitions, he called for a landmark Green Summit in Manchester on 21 March. The Green Summit brought together businesses, experts, academics and local people to establish a ‘green charter, ‘accelerate Greater Manchester’s green ambitions, and explore the earliest possible milestones for achieving carbon neutrality. 

As the Environment Agency, we have joined forces with these partner organisations to deliver this bold ambition. The Green Summit was one of the first steps in helping us to deliver on our 25 year plan to improve the Environment both in Greater Manchester and throughout the UK.

The event was a resounding success, allowing us to continue to build relationships within our community while acting upon our drive to tackle climate change across the region.

The summit has also led to a number of progressive commitments and pledges being made including Manchester committing to be single use plastic free by 2020, the building of zero carbon homes, the electrification of all public transport and the investment of £0.5bn in footpaths and cycleways over ten years.

The summit has also seen the promise of a community run power company to sign up the whole region to renewable energy.

Going forward, we are also taking an active role in the delivery of the DEFRA 25 Year Environment Plan, with our teams leading the Urban Pioneer project for Greater Manchester.