Sponsored by
Re-opening of waterway could provide relief for flood-hit town
RESIDENTS of a flood-hit town are determined to realise their goal of reopening an ancient watercourse.
For the past 10 years a group of residents has been working on proposals to reopen Hedon Haven, once a river that made the town one of the most important in the country, but was infilled in the early 1970s.
The 17m plan involves reopening the whole of the Haven down to the Humber.
One benefit, according to the Hedon Navigation Trust, is that the newly reopened watercourse would act as a reservoir – an increasingly popular solution for towns and villages threatened with a repeat of 2007's deluge.
A board detailing the site's history and the restoration proposals is being unveiled by the town's mayor Ann Suggitt and Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart next Friday.
They include a small marina at the top end of the Haven and a natural wetland on the other side of the bypass where the contours of the old Haven can still be seen. The proposals also involve a country park, an important development for a town with no parks.
The group now hopes that a new flood forum – set up by the Environment Agency – takes the plunge.
Retired industrial chemist Allen Marshall said: "We keep getting encouragement and then slapped in the face.
"The big thing on our side at the moment is the floods of 2007 because our plan includes a huge reservoir for water when it can't flow into the Humber because of the high tides."
As a short term measure the Environment Agency is building brick flood walls and earth embankments along the Burstwick Drain in the south of the town as part of a 1m scheme. But Mr Marshall said he felt their proposals were compatible.
The group gained funding for a feasibility study by Ove Arup, which was published in 2005 and stated the work as technically feasible, and an archaeological dig followed in 2006 to ensure the proposals didn't endanger important remains.
The report added: "Initial assessments show that it would provide economic, social and environmental benefits to Hedon and the surrounding areas."
Hedon Museum curator Julie Marshall, who is Mr Marshall's wife, said: "We recognised that the way forward was to seek professional help so we went to Ove Arup."
She added: "You still people in the street asking: 'Has anything been done?" We've been working hard for 10 years, keeping the faith. The story board shows we are still trying our best to make this happen.
"It would be a huge amenity for south-west Holderness."
The story board, which will stand close to the Haven Arms has been funded with a 10,000 grant from Awards for All and the unveiling will be attended by the trust's adviser, Bob Huntsman from Driffield Navigation Trust, which only recently achieved a huge milestone in its own battle to reopen the Driffield Canal.
The Environment Agency said the scheme was unlikely to attract funding from grant aid, its main pot of funding, but it might be able to apply for funding from other sources, like the local levy. Last year local authorities provided 500,000, with Yorkshire Forward match-funding it to a total of 1m. To get grant aid a scheme had to prove it would alleviate flood risk – but in this case its impact would only be "limited."
Asset system management team leader Ben Hughes said: "The benefit of a storage area will be quite small in relative terms. The drain didn't overtop in the floods and the work we are doing will bring it up to a one-in-200-year standard.
"Certainly it is unlikely to attract grant aid – however, there are other funding pots."
Mr Hughes said work would be starting soon on the 1m scheme. This will see a graded earth embankment and brick-capped flood wall rising to a height of half a metre built along a section of the drain west of Sheriff Highway road bridge.
Similar structures would be built along a 420-metre long stretch east of Thorn Bridge, and a 300-metre section at the rear of properties in St Michael's Drive.
WATERWAYS ONCE MAJOR TRADING ROUTE
For many decades no vessel has gone up the tidal creek that once made Hedon one of the most important ports in the country.
In the 12th century it was a thriving port which traded with the Continent, listed above Dover, Yarmouth and Whitby in importance.
But as ships got larger the monks of Meaux increasingly looked to a newly-emerging rival further up the Humber – Wyke – later to become Kingston-upon-Hull.
As the surrounding country was drained, the creek slowly choked up and despite a brief renaissance in the 18th century, by the 1950s only a few barges plied up and down its tidal course. The Haven Commissioners found the cost of maintenance prohibitive and in 1974 decided to infill the last 600 metres with thousands of tonnes of rubble.
It was a decision which has always rankled.
Hedon Navigation Trust started in 1999 after a chance remark about a ship featured on the town's seal.
The group has since worked to see the plans progress, which include an area on the other side of the Hedon bypass which still shows the contours of the original watercourse snaking its way towards the Humber. A naturally low-lying area it still gets waterlogged in winter.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
