A winter of burst pipes: How to solve a problem like the water industry?

Amid problems with sewage and burst pipes - what comes next for water in Lancashire?

Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.

It has to be hoped that reforms by the UK government will help to bring water companies - including United Utilities - to heel over the next few years.

United Utilities, like most water providers, has promised major improvement and big investment. Although, unfortunately, we will be paying for that improvement - despite an average £2bn a year on average being paid to shareholders by English water companies between 1991 and 2019.

Time will tell if infrastructure will improve, if water supplies will be cut off less often and, most crucially, if our waterways become less polluted. In the meantime, bills are going from April.

Lancashire briefing

🎤 Preston City Council will decide within the next year whether it is “feasible” to build a replacement for the Guild Hall, it has been announced. The authority’s deputy leader, Martyn Rawlinson, told its annual budget-setting meeting that there were “no immediate plans” to demolish the 53-year-old entertainment venue, the main parts of which have been closed for almost seven years. However, he revealed that the council would pursue a “twin-track” approach for the next 12 months of assessing renovation costs for the existing building – including a new roof – while also exploring whether funding could be raised for a brand new attraction. The authority has been quoted figures of £60m-£100m for a new-build scheme.

💦 A water leak which added a further delay to behind-schedule streetworks in a Rossendale town has been repaired, authorities say. Water company United Utilities has fixed the problem in Haslingden, which impacted on road and pavement work around Deardengate in recent weeks. The company had dealt with one leak there in mid-February but then had to tackle another. Rossendale Council said it is pleased the problem has been fixed ‘after sustained phone calls and pushing’ to United Utilities for repairs over three weeks. Haslingden shop owners and drivers have faced months of upheaval caused by rolling phases of work around Deardengate. The work is improve the town centre’s environment including pedestrianising the historic ‘Big Lamp’ area at the top of Deardengate. But one councillor, Samara Barnes, said she shared the public’s frustration with the various delays and the water leaks.

💷 Chorley Council is to freeze its share of council tax bills in the year ahead – and has stressed that the move will not mean any cuts to services. The Labour-run authority opted not to increase the borough charge when it set its annual budget this week – in spite of having the option to hike it by up to 2.99 percent. The council has balanced the books for the 2026/27 financial year, but is faced with having to make up to £1.7m of savings over the following two – partly as a result of losing out after a recent overhaul of government funding for local authorities. However, deputy council leader – and cabinet member for resources – Peter Wilson – told the budget meeting that the council tax decision was taken “in the knowledge that we’ll be able to continue to make sure that we’re delivering quality services to the front line – otherwise we wouldn’t do it”. He said since details of the proposed freeze had emerged, there had been “criticism” from “one or two” members of the public.

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A winter of burst pipes: How to solve a problem like the water industry?

A flooded Brindle Road in Bamber Bridge. Credit: BK

By Luke Beardsworth

Action will be taken to hold water companies accountable for their failures, according to one MP in Lancashire.

Winter in Lancashire was marked by a number of high profile water-related incidents, including a significant outage in Bamber Bridge in January where residents were left without adequate water supply for a number of days.

At around the same time, a burst pipe in Burnley meant that around 2,000 homes were without running water

There have been other less disruptive incidents across Lancashire in January and February where water supply was affected. United Utilities advised there had been a ‘slight’ rise in incidents year on year.

While this has an immediate impact on residents in terms of their water supply, a burst pipe can also cause significant damage to a road surface. When the burst pipe at Brindle Road happened in Bamber Bridge, the road was closed for around a week for repairs to take place.

That is something that will be particularly frustrating for drivers who already bemoan the state of Lancashire’s roads.

United Utilities, the water supplier for the region, has promised investment of more than £13bn over the next five years to improve its infrastructure and help to limit incidents such as this.

But that comes at a cost for the consumer, with water bills set to rise for the average home by 9% to £660 for the average home from 1 April 2026 to help fund the work.

And it comes at a time when United Utilities was blocked by regulator Ofwat from paying bonuses to its top bosses over serious pollution incidents and various performance issues.

Maya Ellis, Labour MP for the Ribble Valley, told The Lancashire Lead: “I understand anger at the state of the water industry and rising bills, especially when we see people experiencing significant outages like Bamber Bridge residents did in January.

“At the time, I wrote to United Utilities on behalf of residents asking for confirmation that steps were being taken to prevent situations like this, where householders were left with lengthy interruptions to their water supply, again.