A cleaner and greener borough

Hello from everyone at the Environment Agency (EA) and welcome to our latest area round-up exclusively for Rochdale Online. 

In this bi-monthly report, we aim to bring you a rundown of all the work we have been doing in your local community as well as key news and developments from the Environment Agency across Greater Manchester as a whole.

We hope you enjoy reading. Here’s what we have been up to in Rochdale during August and September:

Nice to hear from you!

During September, you may have noticed a newsletter from our Flood and Coastal Risk Management Team on your doormat or through your letterbox. This was followed up with a drop-in session on the 18 September at Hare Hill House, Littleborough.

The reason for all of this recent communication was to ask the residents of Rochdale and Littleborough and Rochdale to share their thoughts on future flood risk management in the area.

During the drop-in session, members of Team EA and representatives from and Rochdale Borough Council met with members of the community to give a through update on the latest developments of a Rochdale and Littlebrough’s new 46 million flood defence scheme.

The scheme, which is one of the largest inland flood defence schemes in the North West, will be focussed around the River Roch and its tributaries in Littleborough and Rochdale. Once completed, it will offer protection against the risk of flooding to around 1,000 residential properties and 200 local businesses as well as major infrastructure like the tram network, the bus interchange, colleges, a grid substation and waste water treatment works.

The drop-in session allowed residents and business owners to view and comment on the design proposals for the for the scheme which include raising flood defences at key locations along the river’s edge and using natural flood risk management techniques to boost local regeneration.

More than 40 people attended the event with residents taking the opportunity to ask the team plenty of questions and give their feedback on the proposed designs.

Comments received over the course of the drop-in included: “The EA staff were very helpful and informative. They answered all my questions. Thank you for keeping people up-to-date.”

Overall, the event was a resounding success and we thank everyone who came along to share their views. We now intend to submit a planning application for the Littleborough phase of the works by December this year. The planning application for Phase 2 in Rochdale is also likely to be put forward in spring 2021.

 

 

110 debris screens cleared and the risk of flooding reduced

Regardless of how efficiently domestic or commercial properties are when it comes to waste,  the volume of rubbish we produce is increasing and can cause unwanted problems when it comes our local watercourses.

Add to this the constant battle against fly-tipping and the problem grows from being an unsightly inconvenience to potentially causing flood risk in our communities

If not cleared, rubbish thrown in our streams and rivers can cause blockages across the watercourse which in turn may lead to a flood. It is therefore vital that when we spot a potential blockage it needs to be dealt with quickly, efficiently and with minimal environmental disruption.

Our operations Team across Rochdale and Greater Manchester are one step ahead when it comes to the issue of rubbish and grids around the Rochdale area are put on a regular maintenance schedule with Team EA paying each one a visit every fortnight.

Throughout May and June, our team cleared 110 debris screens and removed debris on:

• Ealees Brook
• River Beal
• Buckley Brook
• Featherstall Brook
• River Roch
• Green Vale Brook
• River Spodden
• Buckley Brook
• Piethorne Brook
• Parr Brook 
• Blackshaw Brook

Typically, the kind of things the team find and remove can simply be natural vegetation such as fallen branches.

However, despite increased environmental awareness, some people still use our waterways as a repository for unwanted items including cars and car parts, bicycles, shopping trolleys and even children's toys!

Sadly, the most common litter our Field Teams still find is household waste including plastic cups, plastic bags, fast-food wrappers, plastic bottles, and other plastic containers. Plastics themselves can be especially hazardous to local wildlife, often causing death.

It only takes a small change in habit and this could make all the difference.

Any litter you have, please dispose of it correctly or better yet, if it is re-useable, recycle it.

Putting temporary flood barriers to the test

If you were out and about in the Bury area of Radcliffe last week, you might have noticed several members of Team EA moving some strange looking aluminium.

There was a good reason behind this as our Field Teams were testing temporary flood barriers in Close Park, Radcliffe as part of a live training exercise.

It was the first time the temporary barriers, which form part of the Government’s national flood prevention plans, have been deployed and tested in the community.

The exercise, which ran from 10am, tested the barrier deployment plan and procedures, as well as working arrangements with partners including Bury Council. This ensured the barriers can be quickly and safely erected when needed during a flood with minimum disruption to residents and businesses.

Once completed, 200m of demountable defences – made of lightweight aluminum and easily transported and erected by a team of EA engineers – were firmly in place and ready to offer protection to nearby properties should a flooding occur.

The final piece of the exercise saw the barriers removed and taken back to the Agency’s Sale Depot to ensure they are ready for deployment wherever they’re needed.

If you do spot anything in your local river or watercourse that looks as though it shouldn’t be there, you can let us know on our incident hotline: 0800 80 70 60