Local flood scheme to benefit from government investment to boost design and construction

Homes and businesses in Rochdale and Littleborough are to be better protected from flooding as part of a six year investment.

Under plans published by the government and the Environment Agency, more than 50 schemes – including the ongoing £56m work in Littleborough and Rochdale – will receive a £42.2m investment to boost design and construction as part of the Flood and Coastal Erosion Investment Plan in 2021/22.

Whilst work has already started in Littleborough, the latest funding is part of plans outlining £5.2 billion of investment over the next six years. More than £860 million will be spent in 2021/22 boosting design and construction of more than 1,000 schemes across England as part of the Environment Agency’s annual capital programme, including the forthcoming local works.
 

Read more: New Roch Valley project awarded funding to protect against floodingPublished: 03 April 2021

 

Read more: Multi-million pound flood scheme off the starting blocksPublished: 10 March 2021

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, the Rochdale and Littleborough scheme features a range of measures, including natural flood risk management, to reduce the risk of flooding to 1,000 residential properties and 200 local businesses across the towns.
 

Read more: New natural flood management scheme completedPublished: 13 July 2021

Construction has started on site in Littleborough and once completed, it will be one of the largest inland flood risk management schemes in the north of England.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said: “We have seen some devastating flooding around the world so far this summer. No one can prevent all flooding and climate change means the risk is increasing, but we can reduce the risks.

“Having completed the government’s six year capital programme on time and on budget, better protecting over 300,000 homes from flooding and coastal erosion, this year we began the government’s new £5.2 billion flood programme.

“These schemes should provide reassurance to communities and businesses, but no one should have a false sense of security. I strongly urge people to sign up for flood warnings and regularly check flood risk on gov.uk.”

Further action on flooding

The funding will be accompanied by a consultation in the autumn, where the government will look at how to better protect frequently flooded communities, following a call for evidence earlier this year. It will consider how to strengthen the assessment of local circumstances, such as where areas have flooded on multiple occasions, when allocating funding during the six-year plan.  

Tighter guidance for planning authorities will also be brought in to better protect and prepare communities for flooding. Improvements to flood insurance to allow flooded households to claim extra money to install property flood resilience measures - like air brick covers, flood doors and flood resistant paint - and measures to tackle the risks from surface water flooding are also included in the plans.  

New guidance for local planning authorities, designed to drive up compliance with planning rules, will reaffirm that they must refer planning decisions to Ministers when the Environment Agency is sustaining an objection on flood risk. Under the plans, the government will also consider how planning decisions in areas at risk from surface water flooding could be subject to the equivalent rules in future. 

Other action taken includes the Environment Agency working with local authorities to provide better surface water flood risk mapping by summer 2022, which will offer crucial information to an additional 3.3 million people and 1.4 million properties at most risk.

In addition, the Met Office and Environment Agency will develop a revolutionary approach to provide faster communication of surface water flood forecasts to improve incident planning and response in fast moving situations.