A cleaner and greener borough with the Environment Agency

Date published: 26 December 2021

As we have just a few days left before we add another challenging year to the archives, let’s take a look back at the environmental highs and lows from in and around Rochdale in 2021. Happy reading!

Reducing the risk of flooding

We have dealt with several flooding incidents throughout 2021, most notably Storm Christoph which swept across the North West from 18 to 21 January.

In those three short days, levels of water in the River Mersey broke records. In Didsbury at the vast flood storage reservoir, which is capable of holding up to 310 Olympic size swimming pools of water, the distance between safety and a threat to people’s lives was a matter of centimetres. But, the defences there held firm and protected around 3,000 properties.

 

 

Throughout Storm Christoph, our teams and our partners in the police and fire services, local authorities and utility companies to name but a few, took a ‘think big, act early approach’ meaning we were able to protect more than 24,000 properties and businesses through a combination of operating defences and flood assets.

We were also able to warn more than 6,000 people in advance of Christoph’s arrival through our flood warning service.

For our Operations Team, reducing the risk of flooding to our communities is a 24/7 job which doesn’t stop when the flood water recedes. Even on dry days or before flooding is imminent, our teams are still working hard, behind the scenes, to reduce flood risk to homes and businesses across the country. We carry out regular maintenance and repairs, work with other organisations to prepare and advise on flooding matters and constantly monitor river levels and weather forecasts.

Over the last twelve months, our Operations Team has removed blockages and cleared debris screens throughout the Rochdale area. Although this activity falls under general maintenance, it is perhaps some of the most vital work we can do to help reduce flood risk to the community by ensuring the rivers and streams of Rochdale and Bury remain clear.

When it comes to general maintenance where and when we go depends on the location, time of year and rainfall. There are six debris screens within Rochdale with Team EA paying each one a visit at least every fortnight.

Our teams are now full immersed in our ‘Winter Ready’ activities and are regularly checking all of Rochdale’s main rivers and streams to reduce flood risk and protect people.

This year, outfalls on the River Roch at both Rochdale and Littleborough have undergone maintenance and the team will be visiting Buckley Brook, the River Roch and Stanney Brook for another ‘health check’ in the New Year.

 

 

Creating flood defences

This year, we hit our target of better protecting 300,000 homes on time and on budget, started the new £5.2 billion flood programme, and put the National Strategy for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management into action.  

This means we are now on track to start better protecting 336,000 properties, including homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals across England by 2027 with more than £42m investment in over 50 schemes across Greater Manchester, Mersey and Cheshire in the first year.

This includes the proposed £56m scheme in Rochdale and Littleborough. It has been an exciting year for this brand-new defence scheme with construction starting in Littleborough in March 2020.

Enabling works were successfully completed ahead of schedule, in mid-August, a key milestone for the project, which allowed Network Rail to close the railway track in October to install a new conveyance culvert.

In November impressive footage was released showing the major work to protect the Calder Valley line and surrounding communities from the risk of flooding.

As part of the Flood Risk Management Scheme, Network Rail have built a new culvert to drain water underneath tracks where the River Roch flooded in 2015.

 

Read more: Major track upgrade complete on Calder Valley line’s Summit TunnelPublished: 03 November 2021

 

The new culvert will enable us to direct water away from the railway line during flooding and help to control the flow of water into a proposed new flood storage area.

 

 

The next phase of the scheme will involve the construction of linear defences including a 22m Single Span bridge at Riverstone Bridge (Phase 1A), then a storage reservoir at Gale, flood walls, and a programme of measures to improve water flow and flood defences along the River Roch and its tributaries (Phase 1B).

We also continue to finalise the full Rochdale and Littleborough business case and hope to be able to share the final designs with the community next year.

Rochdale and Littleborough scheme is led by the Environment Agency in partnership with Rochdale Brough Council, Network Rail, the North West RFCC, TfGM, and the Departments for Education and Transport.  

Once completed, the project will be one of the biggest flood alleviation schemes in the north of England. It features a range of measures to reduce the risk of flooding to 1,000 residential properties, 200 local businesses and key infrastructure such as the railway line, which is the lifeblood of the community.

Boosting our biodiversity

Throughout 2021, we have been breathing life back into our blue and green spaces with projects such as the Natural Course Bringing the River Irk to Life (BRIL) scheme and the Mayfield project which are helping to transform our rivers into thriving waterways that will bring people and nature together.

 

Read more: New action plan launched to bring the River Irk to lifePublished: 27 October 2021

 

The Mayfield Project is particularly exciting. Phase One of this significant project involves the creation of a new inner-city river parkland delivering notable improvement across a 365 metre stretch of the River Medlock as part of the £1.4bn scheme.

Plans also include the creation of a 6.5 acre new inner city parkland surrounding part of the River Medlock, a heavily adapted river targeted for improvement by the Environment Agency. Once completed, it will deliver 11 acres of public space and the creation of a new wetlands area delivering better opportunities for nature and allowing the river to return to a more natural state

Modelling and design work for the parkland has also ensured the altered parkland landscape can accommodate future potential flood water utilising, where possible, nature-based solutions. These solutions will reduce flood risk and improve Manchester’s climate change adaptation efforts.

The Mayfield Project is a prime example of us working with a developer to achieve our goal of shaping a cleaner and more resilient society and we welcome the opportunity if other developers wish to approach us to discuss how we can assist them in achieving their own environmental goals.

Getting out on the ground

Our fisheries team have also been hard at work proactively targeting those who feel they can get away with fishing illegally. We delivered our annual coarse fish closed season campaign in the spring to remind anglers not to fish on rivers, safeguarding spawning coarse fish – vital in protecting the future of our fisheries.

In the summer, patrols were also undertaken by our officers as part of a month-long enforcement campaign to crack down on illegal fishing and poaching.

The campaign, named Operation LUNGFISH, was launched in July and ran until the end of August. The aim of the campaign was to detect licence evasion and other illegal fishing, such as the use of unauthorised traps.

Over the summer, officers across the country checked a total of 4,500 licences which also saw drones and specialist surveillance equipment used to detect illegal activity on waterways. The campaign achieved high detection rates with 839 offence notices issued for fisheries-related offences.

We have also been helping our local fish populations across Greater Manchester ‘keep on swimming’ with almost 28,000 fish released into Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire waters throughout December. A further 3,000 coarse fish including chub and dace will be released into the River Tame in the New Year.

 

 

Releasing fish into our rivers is one of the many things we do to develop and enhance fisheries and encourage restoration. All the fish are reared at the Environment Agency’s national fish farm near Calverton, Nottinghamshire, using funding from rod licence sales.

Staying with the subject of fishing, if you are still casting for the perfect festive gift, we’ve got one that'll create amazing angling memories. The Angling Trust are running Take A Friend Fishing again!

December and January are fantastic times of year to get outdoors and enjoy some time next to the water. Taking a friend or family member for a winter fishing trip is the ideal opportunity to catch-up at Christmas.

At this time of year there are still loads of fisheries, lakes, stretches or river and canal open all over the country that are perfect to visit even in colder weather, and a catch-up with a friend can easily be combined with a quick 'Take a Friend Fishing trip'.

For more information and to get a free one-day Environment Agency fishing licence to Take a Friend Fishing, anglers just need to go to www.anglingtrust.net/takeafriendfishing and provide some simple contact details including their fishing licence number and the date of the trip.

The free fishing licence will be sent with a confirmation email, so please remember to have your fishing licence and both people's email addresses plus a few other details handy when you pre-register.

 

 

Stay in touch

We hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the challenges your local Environment Agency team have faced this year as well as all of the success stories that come from them.  Don’t forget you can stay up-to-date with the latest news and information from the Environment Agency on Twitter and Instagram at @EnvAgencyNW. 

We look forward to sharing more of our stories with you in February but until then, from everyone here at the Environment Agency for Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, have a safe and very merry Christmas and a happy and positive New Year.