Following a spate of burst water mains in the village of Billington - 4 in the New Financial Year 2018-19 since April , Councillor Ged Mirfin who represents the Billington, Brockhall & Old Langho Ward on Ribble Valley Borough Council issued a Freedom of Information Request to United Utilities under the Environment Protection Legislation to see whether Billington was performing worse in relation to other Wards in the Ribble Valley.

The information that Cllr Mirfin received back has raised a number of concerns. Cllr Mirfin states, "The Data that I received back from United Utilities shows that there has been a doubling of major incidents affecting a number of houses where the water has been shut off for a number of hours whilst urgent repair work is carried out. This has coincided with the commencement of several large scale housing developments across the Ribble Valley together with several smaller developments which are nevertheless regarded as quite sizeable in the villages in which they are taking place."

Cllr Mirfin continues, "The last major upgrade in the underground water supply pipe infrastructure took place in the mid-1950s and early-mid 1960s when the last major round of ribbon housing development and some of the newer off-road estates like Pasturelands in Billington were built. It is hardly surprising that the infrastructure is subject to such a high number of bursts in comparison to surrounding boroughs in Lancashire. One engineer I spoke to likened it to transferring the battery, spark plugs and sump oil from an old Mini Clubman which had been sitting on your drive for a number of years and putting them into a Rolls Royce Phantom turning on the key and then finding it doesn't work."

Cllr Mirfin continues further, "Top or should that be bottom of the League Table for Bursts in the Ribble Valley are Sabden and Billington. Both share simiiar characteristics. Both have experienced the erection of a number of Small Estates - in Billington's case 4 over the last 10 years - which have significantly increased the number of households in the village and which has clearly had an impact putting additional pressure on the underground water supply pipe infrastructure as an increased number of households have had to be supplied utilising the old system which has not proved to be as robust as hoped.The 4 Bursts experienced in Billington in June means that Billington has leapfrogged Sabden as the Burst Water Main Capital of the Ribble Valley."

Cllr Richard Newmark who represents the Village of Sabden on Ribble Valley Borough Council states, "It had to be Sabden. Bursts are like Buses (or in Sabden's case - very unlike Buses indeed!). A number come along at once. It is typical of an isolated rural village that Sabden struggles with Water Supply Infrastructure as well as Telecommunications Infrastructure problems and inadequate Public Transport Links. It's all very well building new houses in the village but the infrastructure necessary to cope with all the new housing really needs to be in place before it all goes up. That is why we need much greater engagement with United Utilities and an honest explanation of what they think are the problems that rural villages like ours faces when these things go wrong. Otherwise all you end up doing is further isolating a population already suffering from connectivity issues. Going forward I would like to see a minimum level of infrastructure in place before any further development is allowed to take place. This should be guaranteed and underwritten by Central Government."

Cllr Newmark's views are echoed by County Councillor Ian Brown, who represents Clitheroe on Lancashire County Council and the Salthill Ward in Clitheroe on Ribble Valley Borough Council. Cllr Brown states, "The scale of burst water mains in the towns and villages of the Ribble Valley pale into insignificance in relation to the large scale events experienced in Clitheroe where a number of schools, the hospital and local businesses have had to close while United Utilities carried out urgent repair work. That doesn't mean the problem isn't serious outside of Clitheroe..It is. The lengthy outages we have experienced affecting a large number of properties demonstrates how important it is that effective emergency procedures when people have no water for several hours. It is important that the vulnerable and the elderly are protected. A number of questions need to be asked regarding the adequacy of such provisions which is why we need much closer engagement with United Utilities at both the County and Borough Council level. I don't believe this is taking place with either the frequency or in the depth that it should be doing at present."

Cllr Mirfin concludes, "The most vulnerable locations are our outlying villages in the Ribble Valley. Just ask local residents who live in the Wards of Sabden, Rimmington and Ribchester. Here even small scale developments can cause major problems with the water supply infrastructure - the key is making sure that future developments are planned carefully and that where required an overhaul and modernisation of the water supply infrastructure takes place particularly for those villages that are at the end of the line."

The last word goes to Cllr Ken Hind, the Leader of Ribble |Valley Borough Council who represents the Dilworth Ward in Longridge. Cllr Hind states, "I would like to echo Cllr Mirfin's comments. At the end of the day what is required is a fundamental overhaul of the planning legislation so that United Utilities becomes a much more significant arbiter of whether developments in certain locations should actually be given permission because they represent significant challenges to maintaining the existing Water Supply Infrastructure and the risks posed to that infrastructure from bursts in the short to medium term. The fact that many of these developments are located in close proximity to existing settlements makes me think that Local Government owes a duty of care to ensure that they do not represent an onerous risk to local residents. In a perfect world improvements in infrastructure should take place before a brick is placed in the ground or at the very least there should be a more effective guarantee enshrined in law that such improvements will take place. Section 106 Agreements and CIL do not go far enough. In the meantime a serious assessment of the adequacy of the existing water supply pipe network across the Ribble Valley needs to take place. When it is revealed that United Utilities are losing c.25% of the water in their network through leaks and bursts then this is nowhere near good enough. It is important that in the short to medium term as Cllr Brown states that United Utilities are held to account to ensure surety of supply."   

The Data received from United Utilities can be downloaded below.