Dangerous flooding at Hopwood Park ‘needs resolving’, say friends group

Dangerous flooding at Hopwood Park

Flooding at Hopwood Park that causes areas of the park to be turned into a 'pond' "needs resolving", say the friends group.

An area of the park, which is also known as Hopwood Rec, floods after rain due to the lack of drainage. The friends group are concerned that if the issue continues, children could be put in danger.

Sandra Trickett, Chairwoman of Friends of Hopwood Park, said: “This has been a long standing issue but it needs resolving. Children use the park on their own and if they slip on the embankment because of how boggy it is, they could slip into the water and anything could happen.”

Sandra has been working on getting the issue resolved for around four years but says the problem has been an issue for many more years.

She added: “That area is known as a boggy field but once it rains and it builds up, the area turns into a pond and it shouldn’t be like that. The pond that you see in the picture will eventually drain but it won’t fully go away. It will get smaller and smaller over time but there will always be something there.”

It is understood that there is no proper drainage system on site and that tests have been undertaken to identify clay on site.

“Testing has been done and basically it is sitting on clay, so there is no drainage,” said Sandra.

She added: “We just want a proper drainage system put in really. Rochdale Council is working with us but it seems to be taking forever.

"You don’t have to explain the dangers to anyone so it should be something that can be fixed.”

Rochdale Council had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.