Flooded dog park reopens after community donations

A dog park and farm which was destroyed by flooding on New Year's Day has been able to reopen thanks to thousands raised from community donations.

Sarah Reilly and her co-owners bought farmland in Urmston, Trafford just over a year ago, converting it into a dog park, café and farm but severe flooding caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Four weeks later, Barrowfield Dog Park is back open for business thanks to generosity from the community but the owners said they were still seeking answers over the flooding.

Ms Reilly said she was "overwhelmed" by the support and felt "incredibly lucky" to reopen but mistakes had been made and "somebody needs to be held accountable".

The Environment Agency (EA) said it was investigating what went wrong in the area after the nearby River Mersey burst its banks on New Year's Day.

Greater Manchester Police had declared a major incident on 1 January over flooding in parts of Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire.

An EA spokesperson said evidence showed flood defences had "performed as they should during flooding near Urmston".

However, the watchdog said if its review showed there was a need to adjust thresholds there would be changes made to the flood warning service "to give people vital time to prepare in advance".

Ms Reilly said she and her team had never seen anything like it before.

"We were just astounded of the speed that the water came in, the sheer volume of water," she said.

"People who have lived round here for years and years have never seen flooding like it".

Her co-owner Kevin Connolly said they had experienced flooding before as the business was built on a flood plain but they felt they were given no warning ahead of the deluge on 1 January.

He said the business lost hundreds of thousands of pounds in farming machinery, equipment, and animal feed.

Despite this, the business has managed to open thanks to an online fundraiser which has raised £5,000, and they also had donations from local businesses.

Janet Smith who brings her dog to the park said it was a "lovely area, a great atmosphere".

"When the weather gets better we will be back here supporting the business, and bringing our friends with the dogs and the horses and supporting our local community," she added.

Ms Reilly added that the farm would not be open again if it was not for the community.

"We have just been incredibly lucky and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of support we have received," she added.

"If it wasn't for our community, our friends, our family, our suppliers, we simply wouldn't be able to be back where we are today".

The EA said it always carried out a review after flood warnings were issued to see if improvements were needed for the future.

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