New project to repair drainage beneath Broadfield slopes gets underway

Work will soon be getting underway on the slopes behind Rochdale Town Hall as part of an important scheme to protect the town hall and the surrounding area from future flooding.

Specialists need to make changes to the slopes that connect the Grade I listed building to the Historic St Chad’s Church behind it after work uncovered major faults in the Georgian drainage system that runs underneath them.

Work to improve the drainage was set to take place as part of the wider multi-million-pound restoration of the town hall, which is being funded by the council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

But when site contractors got below ground they picked up wider issues, which experts have traced back to the slopes. The age of the drains on the slopes means that leaks are a regular and growing problem, and the roots of the many self-seeded trees in the area are also further damaging them.

 

 

While some temporary fixes have been put in place, specialists will now need to remove a large number of trees to better understand what is happening beneath the ground and create a long-term solution to protect this important part of the town centre and prevent further water damage to the town hall’s foundations and basement. A number of the trees set for removal are also diseased, meaning that they would have needed to be removed at a future date, even if no drainage issues were present.

The work, which has been approved by expert tree surgeons and hydrologists, will now begin. Any trees which are removed will be replanted elsewhere within the town centre.

Once the full extent of the problem has been identified and addressed, ideas for a new public realm scheme for the area will be put together, before going out to public consultation.

 

 

Any new scheme will include landscapes, benches and planters and will remain in keeping with the park environment and the wider conservation area which exists now. The team is also exploring the possibility of returning the site to its original condition when the town hall was built in 1871. At that time, the site was grassed, with few trees, so people had a clear view of both St Chad’s Church and the town hall itself.

The main steps running through the centre of the slopes up to St Chad’s graveyard will be closed for around one week from Monday 14 February while initial work takes place to hoard off the site. But, once this initial work is complete, these steps will remain accessible to the public until the end of the project.

Councillor Liam O’Rourke, cabinet member for environment and facilities at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “It’s vital that this work takes place, and takes places soon, so we can prevent any further water damage to the town hall and the wider area.

“We intend to use this as an opportunity to create something even better in the long term. Once the trees are cleared and the experts can do more extensive research underground, we will understand much better what is possible for this area. What we can guarantee is that it will remain entirely in keeping with the conservation and parkland environment that people value so much now. Any future proposals will also go out to public consultation in due course.

“Once this new scheme is complete it will also complement the redeveloped town hall and the new Town Hall Square, which is being designed by landscape architects, Gillespies, to create a stunning town centre site and events space where people can relax and enjoy this unique part of Rochdale  town centre.”

The town hall will reopen to the public in 2023. Anyone who would like to receive regular email updates about the project can send their email address to townhall@rochdale.gov.uk