Flooding

Flooding and Drainage Issues in Burscough

How to report any flooding issue

If you currently have floodwater in their homes or business premises, they should quickly switch off any electrical appliances at basement & ground floor level, and move their most valuable belongings off the floor to minimise the risk of damage, not forgetting family photos & heirlooms. They will get advice from their buildings & contents insurers about what to do next. If they don’t have insurance, they are best advised to contact their local district or city council for help with cleaning up.

If anyone has had foul water (dirty water from sewers) coming into their property, they should report it to their local water company (where they pay their water rates), which may be able to help with cleaning and will certainly want to investigate any possible failings in their networks.

United Utilities covers most of Lancashire with Yorkshire Water providing services in parts of East Lancashire. Telephone numbers are:
United Utilities plc: 0345-672-3723
Yorkshire Water plc: 0345-124-242

Any long-lasting ponding of water in the road should be reported to LCC Highways for investigation and appropriate repairs. If this is or may be connected to a blocked gully, it can be reported as a highway fault through our website http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel-report-it/ . If it is anything more complicated than that, we advise that people either telephone on 0300-123-6780 during normal working hours or send the information in an email any time to : highways@lancashire.gov.uk including as much detail as possible.

The Lead Local Flood Authority – represented by the Flood Risk Management team – needs to know about all flooding events, especially where it has come into private property, so that we can investigate responsibly and identify whether there may be a case for grant funding to help with long-term improvements to an area. ‘Private property’ includes homes, gardens & garages, farms/fields and business premises. Please report to us by telephone on 0300-123-6780 during normal working hours or by email any time to : highways@lancashire.gov.uk with as much detail as possible. If we need to share the information with other drainage authorities for a full investigation, we will do so under carefully controlled data protection processes. We will not pass the information on to any insurance companies, trades companies, newspapers, private individuals or other people/organisations outside the flood risk management authorities. If the issues have already been reported to another drainage authority (for example the Environment Agency, the district/city council or United Utilities), it doesn’t need reporting again to us because of the data-sharing arrangements.

If anyone wants advice on how to manage their risks of future flooding, they should first contact their local Flood Action Group or Community Resilience Group where there is one. They can also find advice on the North West’s dedicated flood advice website: https://thefloodhub.co.uk/ . If these options don’t help someone’s particular situation, they are welcome to contact the Flood Risk Management team for advice by emailing or telephoning as above & leaving their contact details.

Burscough is low lying, and much of its area was once part of a large mere which is now drained via a managed drainage system.  The Environment Agency, which is responsible for the network of pumping stations and sluices which carry surface water away from Burscough and out to sea via the pumping station at Crossens, plans to switch off five of the pumps in 2018.  The Town Council understands that plans are being developed for a locally funded body to be set up to manage the drainage network.  Enquiries regarding the future of the pumps should in the first instance be directed to the Environment Agency.  Burscough Town Council remains concerned regarding the future of the drainage network, and continues to lobby for a good outcome.

Lancashire County Council is the “Lead Flood Authority” and takes the leading role in coordinating all agencies with responsibility for ensuring that our surface water drainage system is adequate.

United Utilities manage foul drainage and it is their responsibility to ensure that there is adequate capacity.  The Town Council is not aware of any significant investment planned for Burscough’s foul drainage network, despite recurrent surcharges of foul sewage onto our streets.

Burscough Town Council has repeatedly voiced concerns that both surface water and foul networks are under-capacity, and that new development may exacerbate existing flooding and may cause further flooding.

Burscough Town Council is delighted to work with Burscough Flood Group, an independent group of residents who have researched flooding in Burscough and who have compiled a comprehensive, evidence-based register of incidents of flooding in Burscough.  Burscough Town Council has also commissioned drainage consultants, SCP, to provide their opinion of aspects of our drainage network.

Our thanks are extended particularly to Burscough Flood Group for their painstaking and thorough investigation providing a most comprehensive reference document, and we urge professionals across Lancashire to make use of this resource.

Flood Resources

Preface
Burscough is a great place to live work and visit, and we understand fully why developers want to build here, and why there are eager buyers for new homes. But those new homes and new industrial and commercial premises bring issues that concern us all very much: Our infrastructure is old and in many places isn’t coping with the demands on it. Foul sewer surcharging, and surface water flooding to highways homes and fields cause massive distress to homeowners and to business owners, through no fault of their own, and those people don’t deserve that.

The following pages provide up to date, thoroughly researched and checked data concerning flooding in Burscough. Burscough Flood Group has worked tirelessly to prepare this very comprehensive report into the state of our drainage network in Burscough today. The substantial report appended has been compiled by Drainage Consultants SCP and follows the route of one catchment area, and while completed independently and without reference to the register of flooding events in Burscough, serves to validate the findings of Burscough Flood Group’s report. Copies are available on the Parish Council website, www.burscoughpc.co.uk, or to view at the Parish Council Office.

The report demonstrates the extent of flooding in Burscough, and that sometimes reasons for the flooding are complex and are created by a range of constraints. By working together, drawing on, and taking both local knowledge and professional expertise seriously, issues can be identified and solutions put in place before development takes place.

I am pleased to commend this report to you, and to congratulate Burscough Flood Group on the completion of this excellent resource. We urge all agencies that are tasked with ensuring flood risk is minimised, to make use of it and the expert knowledge that local people hold. By working together to find long term solutions, Burscough can continue to be a great place to make your home.

Alderman Alan Bullen
Chairman
Burscough Parish Council
May 2017

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Catchment Area

Crab Tree Lane Hydraulic Modeling Report