River pilots aim to give flood relief

The Government, which this week defended its record of protecting rural areas from floods, announced seven one-year River Maintenance pilot schemes would begin from October 21.

Under the pilots, farmers can bypass obtaining permission from the Environment Agency to de-silt sections of Winestead Drain near Withernsea and Bottesford Beck near Scunthorpe.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said he wanted to make it as simple as possible for landowners and farmers to protect their land.

“These pilots will make sure that people who want to carry out this kind of work can do so without getting tied up in red tape,” he said.

Environment Agency staff in each pilot area will provide advice and new guidance has been designed to ensure any maintenance takes into account the environment.

The South Holderness Internal Drainage Board (IDB) will work with farmers to carry out de-silting works in a section of Winestead Drain which runs across arable farmland near the Patrington area.

Ralph Ward, clerk at the South Holderness IDB, said farmers had been pressing for powers to directly address the floods which dog the area.

“We’ve had flooding issues on agricultural land for a number of years,” he said. “In 2007, residential properties were affected. Increasingly, in the last few years, there has been hundreds of acres of crops lost. It’s damaging to farmers and it’s damaging to the local wildlife.”

Defra cited the pilots in its response to a report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee which accused the Government of being biased in favour of protecting property when it allocates flood defence funds.

In its response, the Government said: “The Environment Agency prioritises its maintenance work in areas where the consequences of flooding are greatest, which includes the vast majority of the most productive farmland.”

But NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond said the response failed to mention the £45m worth of cuts to the Environment Agency’s revenue budget since 2010 and key concerns about rural flooding had gone unanswered.