Pumps on way to village in bid to keep floods menace at bay

Only days before the fourth anniversary of the floods which saw 120 homes in Burstwick immersed in floodwater, it has been announced that the pair of diesel pumps are on their way to the village.

The six inch pumps, which cost the Environment Agency £10,000, will be manned by local volunteers in times of emergency.

Ron Smith, who has campaigned for better defences, and was one of those whose house was flooded, said: “In the event of an emergency people who really care about the village will be on hand to respond.

“If there’s flooding here it’s bound to be widespread and EA staff will be under huge pressure and we are only to happy to assist.

“In 2007 many of the roads were blocked and many of the staff couldn’t get here anyway. It’s far easier for them to pick up the phone and call us.

“There are 10 of us who have agreed to be flood wardens. We will be keeping an eye on the levels and the EA will also look at them. We will mutually have to agree when they are required. It could be any time of day or night.

“I believe the pumps will be able to shift around 360 cubic metres an hour, 3,600 metres in 10 hours, which is really a significant amount of water. But we are not expecting to use them regularly - maybe only one every seven or eight years.

“But we will be training on them every year.”

Farmer Andy Gray, who farms 386 acres at Burstwick, will be another flood warden along with his son Robert.

Mr Gray said he was confident that the pumps, which will be stored on his premises, would prevent future flooding.

They will take surface water from the village and dump it back on his land, which is now separated from the village by a floodbank built by the Environment Agency.

Mr Gray said: “It doesn’t help our arable land but it would still get flooded anyway. I think they would have prevented it had everything been in place.

“In June 2007 we had four inches of rain in 24 hours, if we had 10 it might be a different story, but I am confident they will do the job.”

The flood defences which were finally completed last July protect two vulnerable stretches along the Burstwick Drain, one by the school and the other at the back of Stud Farm.

Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, said: “So much work has already been done to protect Burstwick from more flooding and the only thing which was missing was these two pumps.

“We are just days away from the fourth anniversary of the 2007 floods and so it is high time this situation was resolved.”

He added: “While this has taken a long time to resolve I am very glad that finally the last piece of the jigsaw is being put in place to make sure homes and businesses in Burstwick are not flooded again.”

Meanwhile on the coast at Tunstall, it is hoped newly elected East Riding councillor Jackie Cracknell will be able to make headway with long-awaited plans to protect southern Holderness from flooding from the sea. It is feared that in a storm, water could surge into Tunstall Drain, flooding fields and villages and even cutting off parts of southern Holderness.

Coun Cracknell has been given the job of co-ordinating various groups involved, including East Riding Council, the Environment Agency and the Internal Drainage Board.

The Environment Agency is planning to set the flood embankments 200 metres (yards) inland, creating a new intertidal habitat similar to the one at Paull. It has earmarked £400,000 for the work, but the work has been repeatedly delayed. Last year the council’s Cabinet agreed to contribute £10,000 towards the project.