Background:

Bootle village has a history of flooding. Most recently it suffered a summer flood event in August 2016. Not only did this flood 12 residential properties, it cut off the main road down the west coast (A595) and affected many of the local services the rural area relies on.

The Environment Agency carried out an initial assessment to determine if there was scope for a formal flood defence structure in Bootle village but found it was not feasible at the present time.

A working group has been set up to look at a partnership approach to reduce flood risk to the village mainly using natural flood management measures. The group will also aim to improve the condition of the Annas catchment.

What’s happened so far?

Initially a working group was established to develop a project. More details on this process are available here. The initial scoping of opportunties was funded by local levy funding and by the Woodland Trust. 

The NFM project received funding from the DEFRA NFM programme and Orsted via the Walney Extension Community Fund. Between 2019 and 2021, five water storage areas, 66 leaky dams, 4 Ha woodland, two ponds and riparian fencing was installed.

These features are being monitored to see how they perform. A monitoring report for the Corney Fell bunds is available here.

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