Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress has been made on the Riverside Drive project in Bolton South East constituency.

The Environment Agency (EA) and its consultants remain committed to understanding how flood risk can be most effectively managed in the communities of Prestolee and Stonecloug. The EA continues to work towards developing a preferred option. Engineering challenges regarding ground conditions, proximity of houses to bank top and any potential future flood wall have meant that the design process has unfortunately taken longer than expected.

The EA has recently undertaken further modelling works and finalised the ground investigation report which has provided a better understanding of the ground conditions in the area. Using this information, the EA is continuing to work with its consultants and contractors to develop a constructible and affordable solution. Consultants have also recently conducted a number of environmental surveys at the site including a Biodiversity Net Gain baseline survey.