Funding to reduce flood risk in Darwen streets.

A culvert which passes beneath homes in Granville Road, Westland Avenue and Manor Road in Darwen is being diverted to alleviate flooding in the area.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has secured £175,000 worth of funding through the Environment Agency to create a new bypass culvert on Granville Road and Manor Road. The scheme will reduce the flood risk to 34 properties in the area which have been affected by previous floods and water damage.

This will ease the flow to the existing substandard culvert. Works are planned to start in March and are scheduled to be completed in early summer this year.

Last year the Council secured grant funding to investigate and study ongoing flooding issues in the area. Following detailed investigation, study and options appraisal, a plan was drawn up to repair and replace the existing culvert where possible and provide a new relief culvert along the highway.

Councillor Phil Riley, the Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, said:

Floods and heavy surface water in recent years have really affected these homes and we have been working really hard to work out a solution to stop this happening again.

This scheme will substantially reduce the flows in the existing culvert and hopefully mean the homes don’t suffer the damage they have previously.”