£1.2m flood protection scheme planned for Darwen

The government has earmarked £1.2million for a new scheme to protect homes and businesses in Darwen town centre from future flooding.

In summer 2012 residents in the area had to be evacuated from their houses and the A666 was closed after the River Darwen burst its banks.

There were near misses of a repeat in December 2015 and summer 2019.

Now Blackburn with Darwen Council has been promised £1m in 2026/27 and a further £270,000 in 2027/28 for a new Darwen Surface Water Resilience Scheme aimed at reducing the risk in the town’s central area.

The authority will now work up a scheme aimed at protecting 200 homes clustered around the A666 from Blackburn to Bolton.

The council will then submit a business case to government to release the cash.

The new scheme will complement the existing long-term Natural Flood Management project to reduce water run off from the moors above the town involving the council, landowners, the Ribble Rivers Trust, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The council is currently preparing a Business Case to secure and release the allocated funding.

Its deputy leader Cllr Quesir Mahmood said: “It’s absolutely excellent news that the Environment Agency has identified the need to protect the residents of Darwen from flooding, allocating £1.2 million to the Darwen Surface Water Resilience Scheme aimed at reducing the flood risk in the central Darwen area.

“The next stage of the process is to submit a bid to ensure the funding is released, enabling the scheme to move forward into delivery.

“As part of that, we’ve been carrying out extensive studies to decide how to get the biggest benefit.

“A comprehensive flood study of the Darwen catchment has been completed, including detailed surface water modelling to better understand local surface water flood risks.

“Protecting properties at risk of flooding in Darwen has been identified as the most effective solution; and we hope that we can carry out this vital work across the next two years.

“This is part of a much wider project, where we’re working with the Ribble Rivers Trust, Lancashire Wildlife Trust and local landowners to slow the flow of water coming down from the moors.

“This includes peat restoration, tree planting, creating woodland and hedgerows and creating leaky dams to hold water away from the town.”
Rossendale and Darwen MP Andy MacNae said: “The Darwen Surface Water Resilience Scheme is a direct response to the concerns of local residents, and securing this funding is something I’m genuinely proud of.”

Darwen West ward’s Cllr David Smith said: “This is excellent news.

“When the River Darwen bursts its banks it causes serious problems in the town.

“There was a major flood in 2012 and it was a close run thing in 2015 and 2019.”