NEW flood defences have been promised for Bury, as the full impact of the devastating Boxing Day floods was revealed in a new report.

More than 800 homes and businesses in the borough were flooded, almost 700 of which were in the Radcliffe, Warth, and Redvales area, with water inside many homes reaching head height.

A total of 54 properties were flooded in Ramsbottom, 13 – including the collapsed Waterside pub – in Summerseat, and nine in Tottington.

Council chiefs have given an assurance that work is well underway to design and commission defence measures to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

Across the region, the unprecedented rainfall brought by Storm Eva in December caused £11.5 million worth of damage to infrastructure, according to a report published today by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

Cllr Rishi Shori, leader of Bury Council, said: “I want to place on record my thanks to the council staff, ‘blue light’ officers and communities who responded so magnificently to the floods both on Boxing Day itself and in the days, weeks and months afterwards.

“We know we can never eliminate the risk of flooding entirely but, working with partners such as the Environment Agency, we are doing everything we can to learn from previous events to better protect people in the future.

“The council has already committed to providing considerable funding to help ensure that the Radcliffe and Redvales Flood Defence scheme is delivered as quickly as possible and we have also helped to secure £1m of funding from the North West Flood Management Committee towards the scheme.

“This is a multi-million pound, and hugely complex, scheme and it will take time to design and deliver but I can assure people that work is under way and this scheme will become a reality.”

Action is being taken by the Environment Agency, Bury Council, and United Utilities to repair or replace river channel walls in Nuttall Park, Ramsbottom, and explore possible flood resistance measures in Chamberhall, Ramsbottom town centre, and Tottington.

The report recommends that the Environment Agency’s flood warning service is reviewed in Radcliffe, Redvales, Ramsbottom, Bury town centre, Tottington, and the J2 Bury Business Park.

According to the report, the River Irwell is only expected to reach the levels it did in some areas on Boxing Day once every 100 to 200 years.

At Blackford Bridge, the river level was 1.1m higher than any reading since records began 64 years ago.

In Ramsbottom, where the extent of the flooding was attributed to a lethal combination of factors, it is expected that installing new resilience measures will be a long-term process.

The bridge next to the Waterside pub has been rendered unsafe for vehicle use and plans are ongoing to provide a long-term repair solution.

It adds that bridge repair works in Lomax Street and Milltown Street, Radcliffe, are due to be complete by the end of the year, but that a number of businesses have been forced to relocate outside the area due to flood damage and the lack of suitable alternative sites within the borough.

At the Pioneer Mill, in Radcliffe, where many flood-hit companies have been targeted by burglars, serious environmental health issues have been raised over waste and fly-tipping. There are also “serious concerns” about the structure of the building.

However, the Environment Agency say that flood defence improvements are hard to justify at the mill because of the building’s poor condition.

Mike Owen, the council’s chief executive, added: “Our first thoughts at this time, and as always, are for the families and businesses who suffered so much from the floods.

“Local authorities, the Environment Agency and United Utilities have worked together to support affected communities and understand what happened.

“Although the purpose of this report is to provide a factual account of the contributing factors, impacts and responses to the flooding, it does also include a number of recommendations on how to manage future flood risk, and a wide range of organisations and communities are already working together in partnership to explore local options to improve resilience against the effects of flooding.”

The full report can be found at greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk