Flood works to start in Hare Hill Park

Photo: Simon France

Hare Hill Park football field to be excavated as part of a flood alleviation scheme

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Councillors John Hartley, Janet Emsley and Ann Stott joined members of the public to hear details of flood alleviation works planned to start shortly in Hare Hill Park.

Rochdale Council officers and contractor representatives were on hand to explain the works and answer questions.

The scheme is intended to reduce flood risk to properties in the Calder Avenue area and to the east of the cricket ground and playing fields. The proposed works are the construction of a basin area which will occasionally store flood water until the risk has passed and then release the stored water back into the drains. The area will not become a permanent pond.

The area affected is the football field at the side of the skate park on Town House Road. This area will be excavated to a depth of about 75 centimeters (2ft 6inches) and the water flow back into the drain under Town House Road would be controlled by a simpler valve or “penstock”. A very similar arrangement (on a much bigger scale) can be seen in Todmorden where Centre Vale Park plays a similar role.

Except in times of flood the site will remain much as it is at the moment – a grassed recreational land.

The work will start in a couple of weeks' time and will take six to eight weeks to excavate the field. After that, the field will be seeded and time will be needed for the grass to grow so the field will be usable again next year.

Gez Wood, Implementation Planning Manager for Rochdale Council, said "The meeting seemed to go reasonably well with no major concerns. It was good to get some interest and the main view seemed to be to support the scheme and hope that we get on site as soon as possible."

A second basin will be constructed on land near Springfield Avenue. However, it is not known when this work can start as the Council needs to reach an agreement with the landowner.