Information on this page has been provided by the Environment Agency and was correct at the time of upload. The Flood Hub is not responsible for any information held on this page. For any enquiries, see the Contact section of the page.
Although the Environment Agency are still navigating a challenging time, they are committed and are actively progressing the delivery of the Flood Risk Management Scheme to better protect residential and business properties from flooding in the Preston & South Ribble catchment. Scheme construction has now commenced, despite COVID-19 restrictions.
The Environment Agency will continue to follow government advice regarding safe practice engagement. They have therefore commenced with pre-bookable face to face engagement and will also continue with online engagement. In the meantime, the Environment Agency will continue to provide key updates on the scheme via this page.
The Environment Agency (EA), Lancashire County Council and partners are working together to develop the Preston and South Ribble Flood Risk Management Scheme (PSR FRMS). This scheme will provide flood risk mitigation for communities from Preston Riversway up towards the M6 and Higher Walton.
The scheme will better protect around 5,000 residential properties and businesses. There are currently some flood defences already in place, but these were mostly built between the 1920s to the 1980s and are coming to the end of their life.
The FRMS is split into 5 areas of development: Area 1 (Riversway and Broadgate), Area 2 (Lower Penwortham), Area 3 (Frenchwood and Walton-le-Dale along River Ribble), Area 4 (Walton-le-Dale along River Darwen) and Area 5 (Higher Walton).
Areas 1 and 2 comprise the 1st phase of development and following feedback from the community, the EA have established a preferred option. The scheme will comprise of defences made up of flood walls with localised use of glass panels and embankments. The new defences will consider climate change and include environmental enhancements and mitigation. There will also be a focus on growth, regeneration and natural flood risk management where possible.
Currently the scheme for Areas 1 and 2 has acquired conditional permission by the Planning Authorities and construction has commenced. The scheme for Areas 3, 4 and 5 is currently in the design development phase.
Penwortham Bridge over the River Ribble, Preston
The scheme for Areas 1 and 2 has acquired conditional planning permission and The Environment Agency are currently working towards closure of the planning conditions. Preparatory works have begun on site including tree removal, set up of site compounds and pre-construction property surveys. The Environment Agency are also working closely with utility companies to arrange diversions where necessary.
The scheme for Areas 1 through 5 is currently expected to cost around £54.7m due to increased costs in delivering the flood defences. All funding has now been secured. £6.525M of European Regional Development Funding has been achieved from the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth programme (2014-2020). The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
Information correct as of April 2022
| Milestone | Start | End |
| Ground Investigations | January 2019 | June 2020 |
| Detailed Scheme Design for Areas 1 & 2 | Winter 2019 | Spring 2021 |
| Planning Permission for Scheme Design for Areas 1 & 2 | April 2021 | – |
| Construction of Area 1 (Broadgate) | Summer 2022 | Summer 2023 |
| Construction of Area 1 (Riverside) | Summer 2023 | Summer 2023 |
| Construction of Area 2 (Lower Penwortham) | Summer 2023 | – |
| Forecast completion of entire scheme including Areas 3 to 5 (subject to planning permission) | – | 2025 |
The flood defences will be a combination of raised flood embankments, walls and walls with glass panels on top.
Here are some examples of potential materials, finishes and styles:
Here are some examples of other Environment Agency flood risk management scheme defences:
(Click the images to enlarge)
The Project Team would like to thank you for your understanding and co-operation over recent weeks which has meant that the recent Ground Investigations have been completed ahead of schedule. The documents below remain accessible to provide background / reference about these works.
The Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Risk Manager for Lancashire, Andy Brown said…
“Ground Investigation work is a key milestone in the Preston and South Ribble Flood Risk Management Scheme. Our team are currently focused on refining the design of the scheme following engagement with residents and businesses throughout 2018 and 2019 on the initial proposals. Community based and digital engagement is planned to resume during 2020, in line with COVID-19 guidelines.
Ground investigations provide critical data which helps us to test assumptions we’ve made to date when planning the scheme, cost the scheme accurately and ensures we can move into the construction phase with a full understanding of conditions on the ground.
In these unprecedented times, the safety of our staff, contractors and the public is paramount, and we will continue to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines as scheme work progresses.”
The Ground Investigation Surveys involved the following types of works. Please click on each of the PDF links below if you would like further information on each of these activities:
Map of where the survey works took place
The flood defences will be a combination of raised flood embankments, walls and walls with glass panels on top. To view examples of flood defences and potential materials and styles, visit the ‘Example Flood Defences’ heading in the ‘Scheme Details’ section above.
Broadgate flood defence wall before (left) and visualisation of after (right).
Riverside before (left) and visualisation of after (right).
Visualisation with flood gate (open) and wall section with glass panel near Ribble Cottage, and the BAC/EE new fence
Map indicating Riversway, Preston
The flood defences will be a combination of raised flood embankments, walls and walls with glass panels on top. To view examples of flood defences and potential materials and styles, visit the ‘Example Flood Defences’ heading in the ‘Scheme Details’ section above.
The flood defences will be a combination of raised flood embankments, walls and walls with glass panels on top. To view examples of flood defences and potential materials and styles, visit the ‘Example Flood Defences’ heading in the ‘Scheme Details’ section above.
Riverside Road before (left) and visualisation of after (right).
Visualisation of flood defence wall with glass panel on Riverside Road, overlooking the river upstream with Miller Gardens on the opposite bank.
The flood defences will be a combination of raised flood embankments, walls and walls with glass panels on top. To view examples of flood defences and potential materials and styles, visit the ‘Example Flood Defences’ heading in the ‘Scheme Details’ section above.
The flood defences will be a combination of raised flood embankments, walls and walls with glass panels on top. To view examples of flood defences and potential materials and styles, visit the ‘Example Flood Defences’ heading in the ‘Scheme Details’ section above.
The flood defences will be a combination of raised flood embankments, walls and walls with glass panels on top. To view examples of flood defences and potential materials and styles, visit the ‘Example Flood Defences’ heading in the ‘Scheme Details’ section above.
The current flood defences were built between the 1920s and the 1990s and are reaching the end of their design life. New defences will reduce flood risk to properties and infrastructure in the area.
The proposed scheme will better protect around 5,000 residential properties and businesses from direct flooding from the River Ribble and the River Darwen.
The Environment Agency and Lancashire County Council are working closely together and with other partners including United Utilities, South Ribble Borough Council and Preston City Council to ensure that flood risk associated with surface water and sewer flooding is not increased as part of the proposed scheme. This means existing pockets of surface water flood risk may still remain after construction.
The proposed scheme for Areas 1 through 5 is currently expected to cost around £54.7m due to increased costs in delivering the flood defences. All funding has now been secured. £6.525M of European Regional Development Funding has been achieved from the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth programme (2014-2020). The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
We have secured £6.525m European Regional Development Funding (ERDF), the contracts have been signed and contracted subject to expected funding conditions. We don’t currently expect any Brexit scenario to change this. ERDF will also create 4 full time equivalent posts locally and we will employ local people and contractors to undertake the works.
Initial Ground Investigation works started in March 2019 although actual construction is not expected to start until Autumn 2021. Construction is likely to take place in phases and take 3-5 years to complete.
Any proposed defences will be built higher than existing and will likely be made up of flood walls, localised use of glass panels and embankments. By default our designs will be sympathetic to the character of local areas and through good design we hope improve the look and feel of the riverside environment. The appearance of the defences has not been agreed and we welcome feedback on this.
We will continually seek to engage with residents, businesses and the wider community throughout this project. A series of community drop-in sessions have been held so far and these will continue throughout the project.
In addition there will be a downloadable newsletter and regular updates provided on The Flood Hub website. You can also sign-up to receive important updates via the following email address: psr@environment-agency.gov.uk
Feedback forms are provided at all the drop-in events we hold and are shared with relevant members of the project team.
We aim to be as inclusive as possible and ensure that everyone has chance to access key information related to the scheme. If you do not have direct access to the internet you may be able to access it via your local library. Alternatively you can post any feedback to:
Preston and South Ribble Scheme – PSO Team
Environment Agency
Lutra House
Bamber Bridge
Preston
PR5 8BX
Please note, this office is currently closed. Any mail received will take a significant period of time to receive the intended staff member.
Our aim is to make all of our materials and events are accessible to all. To find out more details please either write to us or email us via the details shown above.
The bed of the river at Broadgate is rock and therefore there is limited material which could be removed from this area. Additionally, the size of the Ribble Estuary means the volume of material that would need to be dredged to reduce flooding would be very large and not cost effective. To be effective dredging / gravel removal would need to be done frequently which also has cost implications.
Some of the most deprived wards in Central Lancashire are located within the scheme boundaries including within Broadgate and Frenchwood. We are working with partners to understand how the scheme could benefit these areas. The amount of government funding (Flood Defence Grant in Aid) is calculated and weighted towards areas of deprivation.
Climate change predictions are included in all our modelling work, and the new guidance is currently being used to guide our scheme design. Our scheme will be built to last in to the future in line with climate change projections and we typically make sure we design defences that can be topped up at some future date if need be.
The will protect many homes and businesses at risk of flooding. These figures will change as modelling improvements are made and the impacts of flooding in Preston and South Ribble better understood. If this scheme is too big and intrusive to be acceptable to local communities, we will try and provide a smaller scheme that will have reduced numbers of homes and businesses benefiting.
We are working with Lancashire County Council, Preston City Council and South Ribble and other partners to look at planning as a whole. We have a specific group to look at this. The scheme could make future earmarked development sites more viable. There may be opportunities to look and extended development opportunities in future meetings. Any planned developments cannot be taken into account for our economic analysis due to rules set by the government. All new developments should take place away from areas of flood risk. Development in an area of flood risk will be subject to planning permission which should ensure the development only proceeds if it does not increase flood risk or create additional flooding.
Throughout the scheme stages the Environment Agency will be actively engaging with the public through a variety of mediums including online engagement and communication and public drop-in sessions where applicable, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.
During these unprecedented times, public engagement has had to adapt to ensure continued communication with the safety of the general public of paramount importance. To ensure an effective reach and allow them to communicate with the public effectively, the Environment Agency have one engagement platform for the Preston and South Ribble flood scheme. If you would like to sign up for ongoing engagement about the scheme please email the Environment Agency at psr@environment-agency.gov.uk.
Otters local to Preston and South Ribble on an April morning. A brilliant sight as they fed on a monstrous eel, which probably was longer than the two of them put together. The images look like mother and one young. In January there were three kits, but they haven’t been seen recently so it’s likely they’ve moved on the fend for themselves.
These images have been provided by local resident, Greg.
Rivercraft: Minecraft game inspires young environmental champions 05/04/22
The in-game Preston world is the first activity of its kind that uses Artificial Intelligence to map a region and convert it into an interactive Minecraft map. Click here for a link to the news article.
From the Environment Agency 11/08/21
Planning permission for areas 1 & 2 has been approved by the Local Authority, subject to 13 planning conditions that the Environment Agency is currently working to fulfil.
From the Environment Agency 29/12/20
Planning permission for areas 1 & 2 (Broadgate, Riverside, and Lower Penwortham) of the Preston & South Ribble Flood Risk Management Scheme has now been submitted to the Local Authority.
Please note due to coronavirus, the Environment Agency have continued to follow government advice regarding safe practise engagement. They have therefore commenced with pre-bookable face to face engagement and will also continue with online engagement. If you would like to register your interest in booking a slot, please email: psr@environment-agency.gov.uk
There will be regular, relevant updates provided on The Flood Hub website. You can also sign up to receive important updates via the following email address: psr@environment-agency.gov.uk.
If you have any further questions about the scheme, please contact the Environment Agency on the following email address: psr@environment-agency.gov.uk
Social media: @EnvAgencyNW
