Funds get floods study under way
WORK is to begin to find solutions to flooding affecting people’s homes after the county council recived more that £95,000 funding.
Lancashire County Council’s cabinet last week received a report outlining studies into the cause of floods in West Lancashire and other parts of the county.
The report was funded by grants from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The council is responsible for coordinating activities by public bodies and utility companies responsible for managing water to understand the causes of previous floods, and explore options to mitigate problems in future.
County Councillor Albert Atkinson, deputy council leader, said: “Our flood risk management team is working closely with communities throughout Lancashire to investigate the causes of flooding, and look at the options to reduce the impact of future events.
“The underlying reasons why a particular local area is affected by flooding are often complex, and due to the way various drainage systems and watercourses interact.
“In order to access funding for the detailed investigations needed to understand exactly why and how flooding occurs in these locations we have to demonstrate the potential benefit to households of reducing the impact upon them in future.
“These areas have a long history of being affected by flooding, and I’m glad these bids have been successful, so that we can now carry out this work as part of our annual drainage programme.”
In Burscough, the study will contribute towards a surface water management plan, investigating locations in and around the village with a particular focus on how this might affect United Utilities assets and operations.
County Councillor Atkinson said: “We’ll expect the results of these studies later this financial year.
“Our flood risk management team will then work through the recommendations and develop programmes for further discussion with local councillors, flood action groups which represent their local communities, and other key parties.
“We’re working with communities across the county to find ways to mitigate the risk of them being affected by floods, and are at different stages of progress depending on the complexity of the issues affecting each area.
“In some places we’ve already identified work to be carried out by landowners, the county council or other agencies, however these four locations are the first areas where further work is needed to understand the causes, and we’ve reached the stage of developing the evidence for funding a study.”