Town’s flood defence plan is set to overcome its final hurdle

If members of North Yorkshire County Council’s planning committee back the flood defence proposals to protect Pickering at a meeting on Tuesday, then work is finally expected to get underway on the scheme in the summer. The proposals were backed by members of the North York Moors National Park Authority’s planning committee earlier this month.

Pickering is one of North Yorkshire’s worst flooding blackspots and has been hit by severe floods four times in eight years, with millions of pounds worth of damage done to homes and shops, and there has been a campaign to tackle the issue spanning more than a decade.

Liberal councillor Tommy Woodward, who represents the Pickering East ward on Ryedale District Council, told the Yorkshire Post it was great news that the town was so close to finally having defences in place after such a long battle - but he sounded a note of caution.

He said: “We have been flooded four times in the last 10 to 12 years but I think that people have to be made to realise this is not the end of it. It would not have stopped the worst flood that we had in Pickering in recent years but it would have stopped three of the four.

“It will be sod’s law that we get the flood defences built and then get a really bad flood and then people will say: ‘Oh, the flood defences do not work.’ Whilst its going to cut a lot of the flooding out its not going to stop every one.”

The project has been blighted by a series of delays and escalating costs. The scheme had initially been expected to cost £1.3m, but it had to be put on hold when the figure soared. It has had to be redesigned and is now set to cost in the region of £2m, and earlier this year the Government pledged to back the scheme.

Council officers are recommending that the project is given the go-ahead.

A report to the county council committee says: “Pickering has a long history of flooding, with major flood events recorded in 1930, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2007. The town is particularly at risk from summer flash floods due to the steep nature of the catchment.

“The proposals are considered to represent an important development to reduce flood risk for the residents and businesses in central Pickering which would not cause significant adverse harm to the character or appearance of the landscape of this part of the national park.”

The Environment Agency is seeking planning permission for the project which would see the building of flood storage embankments. The new scheme includes the building of earth mounds, tree planting and farm management action to hold the water and stop it coming down from the moors into Pickering Beck.

However, some concerns have been raised about the project. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is concerned the proposed summer delivery of construction materials will disrupt the operation of the heritage line.

“If planning permission is granted for the flood storage embankments the material would be imported between August and October 2013, following mobilisation of the contractor to the reservoir site, which is programmed for June 2013. It is proposed that the construction phases take advantage of the summer period, which is the optimum time for undertaking earthworks,” the report adds.

The Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, Anne McIntosh, who has been a key campaigner for action, has claimed the scheme is a pioneering venture which, if successful, could be replicated in other flood hit areas in the country.

Miss McIntosh claimed it will be “environmentally friendly and effective”.

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