Horwich Flood Relief Scheme
Bolton Council in partnership with the Environment Agency are investing in a scheme to reduce the likelihood of flooding in Horwich town centre. Work is scheduled from August until December 2022.
The £1.8M project is fully funded by the Environment Agency and aims to tackle a long history of flooding to properties in Horwich town centre from Pearl Brook. Records go back to 1946 with six reported flooding incidents in the last 20 years and the problem is expected to get worse due to climate change. Up to 200 properties could be at risk of flooding during exceptional rainfall events.
Old Station Park
The project aims to use part of Old Station Park to temporarily store flood water during large storms by using the existing embankments to form a storage basin. Some new sections of embankment will be constructed to complete the basin in the area between Pearl Brook and St John Street. The scheme has a design life of 100 years.
To ensure the basin remains waterproof through the coming decades, some of the existing trees must be removed, however we are looking into opportunities for a new planting scheme in other areas of the park.
The scheme has been designed to avoid the cobbles that once formed the station platforms as far as possible, however we have committed to reusing any cobbles that must be taken up in the same area of the park.
The park will remain open throughout the works, although some areas and some paths will be closed off. Football pitches will not be affected, but the children’s play area will be closed when the work starts. A new play area will be constructed in the park and the multi-use games area will be refurbished. These are planned to open in Spring 2023.
The Leisure Centre is not affected by these works.
Winter Hey Lane
As part of the scheme, work to improve the highway drainage on Winter Hey Lane at the junction with Chorley New Road will also be undertaken in September 2022. Properties in this area are at additional risk of flooding from other sources. Winter Hey Lane will be closed at this junction for approximately two weeks for safety reasons due to the narrow width of the road. Pavements will still be open and access to businesses will remain open throughout. A diversion route will be signed.
If you have any other queries about the scheme, please do not hesitate to email us.