Residents see risk of flooding reduced after years of misery

Ongoing improvement work by Yorkshire Water to put an end to sewer flooding in the Muston Road area of Filey will soon be entering its latest phase, officials said yesterday.

Since 2000, highways, gardens and public open spaces in the town have been swamped on an annual basis.

The resort also suffered devastating floods after torrential rain overloaded the sewage system, causing filth to bubble up through the drains into streets and homes.

Severe flooding in 2002 and 2007 affected over 200 properties causing respectively an estimated 3m and 6.4m damage, according to official figures.

In response, a strategy was drawn up to minimise the risk to 223 properties which are currently known to be at risk from surface water flooding during a one-in-100 year storm in Filey

Flooding hotspots to benefit from the protection include west Wooldale, from Filey Field Farm to Parish Wood, east Wooldale, from Parish Wood to Church Cliff Drive, and Wharfedale, from East Lees Farm to Muston Road.

Engineers from Costain, working on behalf of the water company, started the 2.4m scheme back in December 2009.

Yesterday YW said workmen are now ready to progress further with essential sewer improvements in the area as the project enters its final stages.

Beginning on Monday, work will take place on Gardeners Court at the junction with Muston Road to install a hydro-slide in the recently enlarged sewer, which will serve to further improve the robustness of the system during periods of heavy rainfall.

Triggered by rising water levels in the main sewer, the sluice-like mechanism will automatically divert excess flows away from the main sewer towards a huge underground storage tank off Muston Road where water can be held until pressure on the system reduces and the threat of sewer flooding has disappeared.

Previously, excess water had nowhere to go and ended up escaping from the sewer and pooling on Muston Road.

Bosses say the three-day project has been planned to ensure any disruption to local residents and road users is kept to an absolute minimum, with both Gardeners Court and Muston Road remaining fully open throughout and no excess noise expected to be generated by the work.

It follows the completion of work by the company to enlarge its sewer under Muston Road and create a huge underground storm chamber capable of holding a million litres of rain water.

Adam Kaye, project manager for Yorkshire Water, said: "While it's impossible to guarantee that Filey will never flood again, we're confident the measures we're taking and the investment we're making will make a huge difference and go a long way towards reducing such a risk.

"Our aim with this latest work was to ensure it has as little impact on local residents and road users as possible, and we're doing everything we can to ensure the road remains fully open and any noise is kept to an absolute minimum.

"Local residents, businesses and road users have been brilliant in their support for the project, and as we start to enter the final stages of this scheme we'd like to thank them for their ongoing patience and reassure them we'll work as quickly to complete the final stages with the minimum amount of fuss."

The measures have involved Filey Flood Working Group, comprising Filey Town Council, North Yorkshire County Council, the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water, land owners and residents – led by Scarborough Council.

For more information on the scheme to solve the problems in the area you can visit http://www.yorkshirewater.com/mustonroad.