Green Light for Rochdale Flood Defense Scheme

The first phase of a £46 million flood defense scheme in Rochdale and Littleborough has been given the green light by Rochdale Borough Council’s Planning Department.

Led by the Environment Agency in partnership with Rochdale Council, the new scheme features a range of measures to reduce the risk of flooding across Rochdale and Littleborough including a new flood storage area at Gale, as well as raised walls and improvements to culverts and bridges in areas including Greenvale Brook, Town House Brook, Ealees Brook, Buckley Brook and Hey Brook.

The approved plans incorporate the first phase of a three-step process that has been developed to create what will eventually become one of the largest and most complex inland flood risk management schemes in the north of England.

Proposed works for the Phase 1a planning application are set to include defenses at various locations in Littleborough, the replacement of Riverstone Bridge and the widening of the river channel at the same location as well as the removal of Charles Street Bridge and temporary access works into the Gale site to allow it to be turned into a flood storage reservoir, as part of Phase 1B.