Flooded families in Wigan struggling to rebuild lives four months on
Most residents and businesses around Templeton Road and Walthew Lane in Platt Bridge were uninsured because of the history of flooding in the area
Four months after the New Year’s Day floods engulfed a community in the Platt Bridge area of Wigan, the anguish goes on for the affected families struggling to find the thousands of pounds to repair their homes.
Most of the residents and businesses around Templeton Road and Walthew Lane were uninsured because of the history of flooding in the area.
Now, every time it rains they fear a repeat of what happened on January 1.
Most have returned to their damaged properties and are living with no carpets and with damaged furniture still piled up in their front gardens.
Inside, they are making do with sparse items of new furniture they can ill afford.
Dawn Royds, who was insured, is still waiting for her payout and has been unable to use the appliances in her kitchen since January 1.
Chad Meadows, 26, and his partner Tia Holmes, 25, and their baby boy were staying at a relative’s house on New Year’s Eve when the torrential downpour turned nearby Borsdane Brook into a raging torrent and overwhelmed the drainage system in the area.
“I was woken up by a phone call from one of the neighbours saying my car, a Mini Cooper, was underwater,” he said. “Damage to the car amounted to £4,500 and the stuff we are doing to the house will be more than £3,000. We are doing what we can when we can, because we couldn’t get house insurance.”
Martin Ellis, 38, is a tenant in one of the houses owned by his dad. He lives there with Jennifer Shakley, 38, and their two children.
“We did not have insurance, because of the previous flooding, “ he said. “We’re still living in temporary accommodation but we’re coming back whenever we can to sort the house out.
“We are a very close-knit community. We all know each other and this has been devastating for us all. But now, every time it rains we are worried that this could happen again.”
The Iceland store on Warrington Road and other businesses in Walthew Lane were also badly inundated.
Meanwhile, Makerfield MP Josh Simons and Greater Manchester mayor visited the area on Saturday along with the three councillors who represent the Abram ward which covers Platt Bridge – Nazia Rehman, Eunice Smthurst and Martyn Smethurst.
Following the New Year’s Day storm which also flooded many areas of Greater Manchester, the Government announced £2.4bn of funding to boost flood defences.
Mr Simons said: “Residents are mostly back in their houses but they have not been able to get insurance. We want to make sure they can access Government support. I am working with Andy Burnham to come up with an integrated plan.
“Residents have been told time and time again this was a once in a 100-year flood, which is not the case. “
He said that he and Mr Burnham were meeting the Environment Agency and United Utilities every two weeks to get an ‘integrated solution’ to the problem.
“It’s not acceptable that every time it rains residents worry about getting flooded again,” he said. “We want diggers in the ground. It will depend on the Government to fund this in 2026.
“Residents here are right to be angry and I am angry too on their behalf. I will not let this area be overlooked again.”
Mr Burnham said that Platt Bridge would become a ‘test case’ for the ‘new integrated water management plan in Greater Manchester.
“For the first time we’ve brought the players together – the Environment Agency and United Utilities, because they’ve been too separate doing their own things,” he said.
“What we’re trying to do is prioritise and solve things jointly. So this is the test case. We’ll meet next week (Thursday) because what we’re saying to them is – ok you may not be able to pay for everything, all in one go, but we need you to start working jointly on the phases of it to make it better, to start to mitigate the risks to the residents.
“I’m stunned by what happened. I knew it was bad – I had no clue it was that bad. It’s a public safety risk.”
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