The Flood Hub

Several partner organisations have been working together to plan and implement better flood risk management in Billington. This includes the Environment Agency (EA), Lancashire County Council, Ribble Valley Borough Council, United Utilities, Whalley & Billington Flood Action Group and the Ribble Rivers Trust.

Billington does not currently benefit from any permanent formal defences. The village does have a Temporary Defence Deployment Plan for Longworth Road. When the EA expect flooding, they deploy temporary flood barriers along Longworth Road and Sunnyside Avenue. The deployment depends on national stock levels so Billington are not guaranteed to receive them.

The warning time the EA receive can be very short, so since February 2020 the EA decided to store the barriers in Billington when they think flooding is possible. The EA will then deploy the flood barriers if necessary. This makes the deployment faster and prevents false alarms causing local disruption.

Billington temporary flood barriers (February 2020)

In 2017-18, the EA looked into building a permanent flood management scheme in Billington. They determined that Billington is not a cost-beneficial location to receive funding and so the development of a permanent flood scheme was halted at this stage.

In February and March 2020, the EA revisited the calculations. As a result of the 2015 and 2020 flooding the understanding of flood risk in Billington has changed meaning the viability for permanent defences may have changed.

The preferred option at this stage is earth embankments to better protect Longworth Road and Harrisons Engineering Limited. The estimated cost for this proposal is £500,000. The EA are still carrying out work to determine if a scheme would be cost-beneficial. If so, they would then look to find funding. This means that a scheme is not guaranteed to be built at this stage. The EA will continue to update you on their progress.

The preferred flood management option at this stage – earth embankments to better protect Longworth Road and Harrisons Engineering Limited

The Whalley & Billington Flood Action Group has worked hard to improve community resilience. This includes, but is not limited to, communications including a strong presence on social media, preparations prior to heavy rainfall and action during/after flooding. For more details regarding the Flood Action Group please visit https://whalleyandbillingtonfloodactiongroup.wordpress.com/.

Flood Alerts and Warnings continue to be monitored and issued. Community members at risk of flooding are encouraged to sign-up for these at https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings.

More information regarding flood resilience can be found at https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/what-to-do-in-a-flood.

• No extra downloads at this time

• No extra downloads at this time

• Billington Flood Risk Management Newsletter (October 2022)
• Billington Flood Risk Management Newsletter (December 2021)

Environment Agency

Reporting Flood incidents (“Floodline”): 0345 988 1188

Reporting Environmental Incident: 0800 80 70 60

Sign-up for Flood Warnings: https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings

General enquiries or issues email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

General enquires or issues telephone: 03708 506 506

Post (please note that teams are mostly working from home during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Please allow for more time if contacting the team via post):

Environment Agency – PSO Team

Lutra House, Dodd Way, Walton Summit, Preston, PR5 8BX

Partners

Report highway flood issue: https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel/report-it/ (Lancs County Council) or 0300 126 6701

Report public sewer flood issues: 0345 672 3723 (United Utilities)

Risk to life: 999

Please visit the Whalley & Billington Flood Action Group website to find out more about the group and receive updates:

• https://whalleyandbillingtonfloodactiongroup.wordpress.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/wandbflag/

Sign-up for flood warnings: https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings

Check your preparations for flooding: https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/what-to-do-in-a-flood