Stockport Council has put forward further plans to tackle continuous flooding on the A555, a major road to Manchester Airport that has faced 'longstanding challenges' since opening in 2018.
The road, which links Stockport and Manchester Airport to the wider network, has 'experienced flooding during periods of prolonged and intense rainfall' and was seriously affected in July 2019. A review found several issues and works were carried out, but the road has continued to flood due to the wider landscape.
Recent flooding and response
On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day between 2024 and 2025, 'widespread flooding and disruption' occurred across the borough when a month's worth of rainfall fell in hours, with several rivers seeing record water levels. The A555 flooded and had to be completely closed to traffic, with icy floodwaters broken up by hand because gritting was ineffective.
In a new report, the council said: "Consistent with findings elsewhere across the borough, the flooding was not attributed to routine maintenance failures but instead reflected the exceptional rainfall intensity and the inability of drainage systems to discharge normally during periods of extreme river levels."
Next steps: pump upgrades
Following this, the council looked at further measures, with interventions to improve drainage around Woodford completed in July this year. Drainage from the Highfield Parkway housing estate and Woodford's Recreation Ground were diverted into Spath Brook.
In a report presented to Stockport councillors on August 3, council officers said: "The next stage of work is to undertake improvements to pumping infrastructure serving the A555 at Hall Moss Lane to increase the overall pump capacity, with the works planned to start later this year."
The requirement for these upgrades was identified after on-site testing confirmed that the discharge rate from the pumps was significantly less than the green field run off rate for the catchment area, resulting in the pump station becoming overwhelmed during heavy and prolonged rainfall. The works include replacing existing pump equipment and increasing pumping capacity to improve the rate at which water can be removed from the highway drainage system during extreme weather events.
Future improvements and concerns
In the coming year, the council is looking at improvements to the pond capacity at the Oil terminal gyratory pond. Following the downstream improvements at the Hall Moss Lane pump station, it is proposed to increase the discharge rate from the ponds, reducing drain-down time and allowing more flow to reach the pumping station outside critical storm events. This will mitigate the issue of the pond overtopping during prolonged and heavy rainfall.
At the meeting, Anne Nerney raised concerns about flooding at Spath Brook and Spath Lane, fearing diverted water into the 'small undredged brook' could create issues. She asked the council for reassurance that her home would be safe and that any future developments would not worsen this. Councillors said they had passed the matter onto their planning team.
At the same meeting, councillors also approved plans to upgrade Bramhall High School, a partial redevelopment to address issues caused by ageing buildings built with concrete that is prone to collapsing without warning.
