Ribchester councillor makes funding plea to help protect village from flooding

Blackburn Road, Ribchester, is a flooding flashpoint as brooks swell during heavy rain. Pic: Blog Preston.

Ribchester’s borough councillor has called for more funding to help protect the village during periods of heavy rain.

Cllr Karl Barnsley, the village’s Labour representative on Ribble Valley Council, addressed a full meeting of the council and subsequently outlined his plans on his blog.

He said: “I’m keen that progress is made on finally setting the criteria for the Jubilee Fund, although it seems that the budget working group is doubling its workload by setting up this new Ribble Valley version of the SPF to be developed in parallel with the jubilee fund this year. It will be a failure of this Council if we do not approve criteria for both funds this year.

“I have projects in mind for my ward which will benefit greatly from these funds including, as I mentioned earlier in this meeting, the opportunities for flood resilience and upland flood management projects which I hope will be part of the criteria funding examples.”

Cllr Barnsley told Blog Preston that he was specifically looking for funding to support the Environment Agency’s work on ‘leaky dams’, plus extra communal kit such as sandbags and wheelbarrows. He also called for more signs which could be placed at the entrances to the village to tell people not to drive through flood water.

The village sometimes struggles during times of heavy rain as Duddel and Boyces brooks, which both flow into the River Ribble, burst their banks and cause flooding issues outside the Ribchester Arms on Blackburn Road and nearby Greenside.

The leaky dams that Cllr Barnsley referred to are an upland water management system in which brooks and tributaries are partially blocked with wood, mimicking fallen trees or debris, and hopefully cause the flow of water to slow or be dispersed into the areas around the dams. It is suggested this slows the flow of water as it heads to areas, such as Ribchester, further down the catchment.

Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.