MP hails plan to protect town from further flooding ordeals

THE go-ahead for pioneering flood defences will provide a long-awaited respite from future deluges for one of North Yorkshire’s most notorious blackspots, according to a leading MP.

Residents and businesses in Pickering have endured a series of major floods dating back as far as 1930, prompting a vocal campaign to improve protection for the market town.

The calls for new defences intensified after the town was swamped three times in only seven years in 2000, 2002 and 2007.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Plans for a much-needed £1m defence scheme for Pickering have now been approved by the North York Moors National Park Authority.

While the project still needs to be backed by North Yorkshire County Council, which is the strategic planning authority, it is hoped that a decision will be made early next month.

The MP for Thirsk and Malton, Anne McIntosh, whose constituency includes Pickering, heralded the scheme as vital for the future of the town.

Miss McIntosh, who is also the chairwoman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, said: “This is a massive scheme not just for Pickering, but it could have implications across the country.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“If it proves to be a success, which I am sure it will be, the principles could be employed to protect other communities.

“It is a groundbreaking scheme as we are trying to work with nature to provide a solution to a long-running threat of flooding.

“I am delighted that the national park authority has approved the scheme, and it is testament to all the hard work of everyone involved that it now looks like it will become a reality.”

The Slowing the Flow project in Ryedale was one of three schemes nationally which were awarded a total of £1m in government funding in 2009.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The schemes aim to use nature to combat flooding and represent a major shift from engineering solutions back to techniques such as planting new woodland to slow run-off.

The North York Moors National Park Authority’s planning committee has approved a key element of the over-arching project – earth embankments that will be capable of containing up to 18m gallons of water from Pickering Beck.

Work on building the earth dams, which will stretch for more than half-a-mile at a height of 5ft, is now due to begin during the summer in the flood defence scheme overseen by the Environment Agency.

A total of £700,000 is being used to finance other elements of the Ryedale project such as tree-planting and the introduction of mini-dams in watercourses.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But the Yorkshire Post revealed in February that the cost of building the embankments had escalated significantly due to concerns over the initial designs.

Engineers had voiced fears that the earth dams could actually have made major flooding events worse by holding back a large volume of water that could suddenly be released if the defences were breached.

The Environment Agency was forced to ask Ryedale District Council to provide another £150,000 on top of an initial budget of £800,000 after the plans had to be revised.

Councillors voted unanimously in March to provide the extra funding to ensure that the scheme remained on track.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Environment Agency’s project manager, Lucy Huckson, confirmed yesterday that work on building the earth dams is due to start this summer – once planning permission has been secured from the county council.

A county council spokeswoman said that a decision is due to be made by the authority’s officers using delegated powers in early May.

One of the final issues which needs to be resolved is for a right of way to be re-routed to allow the earth embankments to be constructed, according to the council spokeswoman.