Mayor says flood plain could act as flooding ‘safety valve’

Last month heavy rain caused Pocklington Beck to overflow and surge into the town around Market Street.

East Riding Council is carrying out an investigation into the flooding, which saw water enter a handful of shops and businesses.

Mayor Graham Perry said he believed a flood plain could resolve the problem. “We have talked about this (with the Environment Agency and East Riding Council) in very generalised terms previously, but they are now talking in even more focussed terms of this being the way to put an extra safety valve to cope with the surges.

“The field for the flood plain would need to be on the Millington side of Pocklington, to the north of Pocklington.

“Clearly the people who own the land at present will need to be approached in a correct and decent manner so that will take some time.

“I believe in practical, proven and economic terms, that this is the way to take the surge out, under the combined circumstances of saturated ground and sudden downpours.”

Pocklington Town Council is selling bags, which swell up when they make contact with water at cost to properties most affected.

Coun Perry said: “The reason we would just be doing this on a first come first served basis is we think it could finish up stupid if people who were the least affected on the edge of town got them before the people who were most affected.”

He said there had already been a lot of work done in recent years on clearing the drainage in the town, including removing some 400 tonnes of silt and everything from road signs to wheelchairs.

Michelle Richardson is manager of the Sue Ryder shop in the town which was flooded in 2007. She said: “I don’t know if a flood plain would necessarily work - it needs to be more about keeping the drains cleared all the time. It needs looking after all the time not just every now and again.”

The council said the investigation aimed to determine the cause and extent of flooding and any potential remedial works to reduce flood risk.