First phase of work on Rochdale and Littleborough Flood Risk Management Scheme completed

The Rochdale and Littleborough Flood Risk Management Scheme has achieved a significant milestone with the completion of Phase 1A (Littleborough), marking a crucial step forward in the overall project to better protect 337 homes.

Key features of Phase 1A include:

• The project has widened the river channel, increasing the amount of water that can move under the bridge and away from local communities.
• A flood wall has been built to close the gap where the Charles Street Bridge once existed with wall mounted railings. This has increased the speed that water can pass through and reduces the flood risk locally.
• The height of the flood defences has been raised, at Town House Brook and Peel Street, to provide better flood protection to the community.
• Steel pillars have been installed on Town House Brook upstream of the Todmorden Road Culvert. This prevents large items of debris entering the culvert and causing blockages under the road.

The upcoming Phase 1B, scheduled to commence in spring 2024 and conclude by spring 2027, aims to further reduce flood risk with a new flood storage reservoir created at the Gale site off Todmorden Road and further defences around Grove Lodge, Shotwood Fold, Greenvale Business Park and Ealees Brook.

Once completed, the Littleborough phases of the Flood Risk Management Scheme are projected to provide better flood risk protection to 337 homes and 185 non-residential properties. Additionally, the scheme is set to deliver considerable environmental benefits, with over 130 trees and 160m of new hedging to be planted.

 

 

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “The completion of Phase 1A of the Rochdale and Littleborough Flood Risk Management Scheme is a significant milestone in the work to better protect over 330 homes from flooding.

“We are grateful for the support from the local community and would like to thank local residents and businesses for their understanding throughout these essential works.

“Contractors will now be turning their attention to start work on Phase 1B in Spring, which will involve a flood storage reservoir at the Gale site off Todmorden Road as well as linear defence works at Grove Lodge, Greenvale Business Park and Ealees Brook.

“Local residents and business owners can keep up to date with the latest details by checking the Rochdale and Littleborough Flood Hub web site and a newsletter will also be produced to provide further information on the progress of the scheme on the Rochdale and Littleborough Flood Hub page.”
 

Read more: Local flood scheme to benefit from government investment to boost design and constructionPublished: 12 August 2021

Councillor Tricia Ayrton, assistant cabinet member for climate change and the environment at Rochdale Borough Council said: “This is a major milestone on this important project which will help bring down flood risk across the borough and reduce the impact of flooding. Our community understands first-hand the devastating impact that flooding has, so this work will have a lasting and very real impact on our many residents and businesses in these areas.”

Information about the Rochdale and Littleborough Flood Risk Management Scheme is available on The Flood Hub, which provides updated details of the scheme via www.thefloodhub.co.uk/rochdale-and-littleborough.