The petition of residents of the constituency of Ribble Valley,
Declares that the Royal Lime Trees on Victoria Road, Walton-le-Dale, Preston, which have stood for over 112 years and serve as a living memorial to the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary, form part of the community’s identity and landscape but the Environment Agency’s current plans within the Preston Flood Alleviation Scheme would see 18 trees cut down; further declares that specific modelling has not been carried out and appropriate steps not taken to gather sufficient structural or geotechnical evidence for these plans; and further declares that the current plans are intrusive on the community and natural landscape, while less disruptive alternatives have not been adequately explored.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to direct the Environment Agency to commit to an independent review of the Victoria Road design in the Preston and South Ribble Flood Risk Management Scheme, and to provide flood defences that are environmentally responsible, respect local heritage and reduce community disruption.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Maya Ellis, Official Report, 10 June 2026; Vol. 787, c. 425.]
[P003206]
Observations from the Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy):
The Environment Agency has considered several options and consulted thoroughly on the scheme, which will reduce flood risk to over 300 homes and businesses in Walton-le-Dale. Financial approvals, budget allocation and planning permission are in place, and a construction contract has been awarded.
The consultation process for this scheme, which began in 2019, intensified during 2025 and 2026 as options were considered, designs developed and planning permission sought. Following planning permission being awarded in March 2026, a community action group has challenged the need to fell 18 of 21 lime trees on the riverbank along Victoria Road.
The Environment Agency removes mature trees only as a last resort and would retain the 18 trees if this could be achieved within environmental, technical, operational and economic constraints.
A wide range of engineering and environmental alternatives has been explored and discounted where they failed to meet requirements for flood risk reduction, affordability, deliverability or long-term resilience. The current proposal is the option that satisfies these criteria.
Relying on the existing Victoria Road defences would retain the trees but would not reduce flood risk to over 300 properties. The standard of protection will decline over time, with future overtopping and potential breach risk. The Environment Agency is already seeing evidence of movement in the existing defences.
Alternative foundation arrangements proposed to retain the trees were assessed by design specialists during optioneering. They were found either not to provide the necessary stability or to sever roots to the extent that the trees would not survive and could fall in an unmanaged way. The specialists could not certify that these alternatives would meet the required design standards for public infrastructure.
Options to build defences into the river to preserve the trees have also been discounted because of impacts on river habitat, protected species and increased flood levels elsewhere.
The proposed solution is a replacement flood wall along the line of the existing defence. This is deliverable but requires the loss of 18 of the 21 trees. It is also adaptable, allowing the wall to be raised in future without further major disruption to the community.
Reopening optioneering or revisiting discounted alternatives would cause significant programme delay, increase costs beyond the approved budget, and risk the scheme becoming unaffordable and undeliverable within current funding models.
The Environment Agency is confident that the scheme is evidence-based, proportionate and the best achievable outcome given the constraints.