How the Rochdale borough has worked to prevent a repeat of the 2015 Boxing Day floods

It’s a scene many of us will never forget: the entire centre of Rochdale underwater on Boxing Day 2015.

Over 320 properties in Rochdale and Littleborough were severely damaged, with 18,000 properties left without power.

Some blamed the newly-opened river on The Butts for the devastation, despite flood mitigation being a key part of the design, with the flooding occurring from further up near the council offices, a part of the river which has always been uncovered.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/92726/answers-to-how-opening-the-river-roch-in-rochdale-town-centre-will-help-mitigate-flood-risk

It’s worth noting every river in Lancashire reached record levels that day, with flooding also occurring further up the Calder Valley in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge.

With the rivers Roch and Beal bursting their banks and water levels rising, Saturday 16 March almost came close to a repeat incident of the infamous floodings just a few years ago.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/126695/flooding-photo-and-video-gallery-saturday-16-march-2019
• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/126696/river-roch-flood-update-heres-what-we-know-as-of-saturday-night

Water levels in Rochdale centre came perilously close to flowing over the bridges near the council offices and The Butts, with shopkeepers on The Walk building a wall of sandbags to prevent repeat damage. Some businesses were affected, but the damage was nowhere near that of 2015.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/126714/rochdale-town-centre-businesses-after-saturdays-flood

Since the 2015 floods, the council, with support from the Environment Agency and Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, has taken a number of preventative measures:

• Built two new storage reservoirs in Littleborough, at Springfield Avenue and Townhouse Road, as part of a £500,000 flood alleviation scheme for Calder Brook. These reservoirs, which together can hold 12,000m3 of water, the equivalent of four Olympic-sized swimming pools or 20 local pools, reduce flood risk for 66 properties and also help with flooding issues in the wider area. They also help hold back excess water and reduce the amount of water which travels downstream into Rochdale town centre.
   
• Helped protect over 400 commercial and private properties across the borough from the impact of floods, by installing a number of flood alleviation measures including flood doors and barriers and self-sealing airbricks.
   
• Worked with the National Flood Forum and the Environment Agency to promote flood awareness and sign up to flood warning and weather alert services, encourage flood resilience and preparedness for local homes and businesses and support local Flood Action Groups in Wardleworth and Littleborough. This work is also supported by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee.
   
• Working with the Environment Agency and the Mersey Forest, identified opportunities to carry out ‘Slow the Flow’ measures in the upland areas around Littleborough where a number of smaller scale ‘natural’ flood risk management such as log dams and tree planting taken together could help to hold more water back from watercourses and drainage systems during times of flood risk. The Environment Agency has recently awarded funding for the work which is being delivered between now and March 2021.

A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council added: “We also have an intensive year-round gully cleaning programme, which sees us clean all our gullies once a year, with those in flood risk areas targeted twice a year.

“We’ve also spent 800k repairing damaged gullies over the last two years and a further £300k will be spent on this in 2019/20.”

 

 

Last year the government announced £5m to be granted towards a £46m flood defence scheme to be built in the borough of Rochdale.

Work on this scheme, building a series of storage reservoirs along the River Roch and its tributaries from Littleborough to Rochdale town centre, is expected to begin this summer, with construction beginning in Littleborough in spring 2020 and in Rochdale in 2021.

The upcoming flood defence scheme is expected to deliver £455m worth of benefits over its lifetime and will improve flood protection for 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.

A number of flood alleviation measures, like raised walls and improvements to culverts and bridges, are also planned for Green Vale Brook, Town House Brook, Ealees Brook and Buckley/Hey Brook.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “In summer 2018 the Environment Agency and partners announced a £5m funding package which will contribute to the Rochdale and Littleborough Flood Risk Management Scheme’s costs.

“This money will be used between now and April 2021 as the scheme moves through detailed design, planning and towards construction. It is currently hoped that construction will start, in Littleborough, in spring 2020 and complete towards the end of 2021, with Rochdale construction beginning in 2021 and construction being completed by 2023/24 – subject to all approvals being in place.

“It is worth noting that since 2015, there has been a tremendous amount of work undertaken both on the project, and separately. In addition to the work in developing a design for the flood scheme approximately 50 tonnes of gravel and silt were removed at John Street on the River Roch, which would have certainly reduced flood risk on Saturday (16 March). The Town House Brook culvert near to Todmorden Road, Littleborough has had sediment removed to help water flow more freely.

“In addition to this a new debris screen has been fitted at Charlotte Street on Sudden Brook to reduce the chance of blockages occurring. There have also been improvements to the Environment’s Agency’s Flood Warning service which allows residents to monitor actual and forecast river levels online when heavy rain is forecast.

“We have also been working to support Littleborough and Wardleworth Flood Action Groups, and there have been six public drop-ins since 2015. These have been used to update the public about the project and also give the community the opportunity to work closely with the scheme.”