National flood protection
proposals would leave East Riding at
risk
Plans being drawn up for flood
management and protection would fail to
meet the needs of the East Riding and
leave the area at risk of further severe
flooding, as happened with disastrous
effects in the summer of 2007.
Following pressure from the council,
including commencing legal action, the
Environment Agency at the eleventh hour
has now confirmed that they will carry
out full and proper consultations. The
EA has, however, also submitted
proposals which would substantially
redirect current investment in flood
defences from rural to densely populated
urban areas.
In our area, the Yorkshire Regional
Flood Defence Committee is deferring
consideration of the issue until it has
consulted local authorities including
the East Riding, but the deadline for
responses is very tight and responses
must be in well before the end of the
month.
Councillor Stephen Parnaby OBE,
leader of the council, said: “Whilst the
Environment Agency did concede that it
needed to start again and undertake
fresh and meaningful consultations, it
is disappointing that they are still
proposing a strategy that utterly fails
to protect rural areas like the East
Riding and leaves thousands of homes at
risk, not to mention prime farmland on
which the local economy depends.
“The council’s cabinet has now
considered the Environment Agency’s
proposals and resolved to oppose them in
the strongest terms as they direct
future investment to urban areas at the
expense of the East Riding and other
rural areas.
“We shall be letting the Yorkshire
Regional Flood Defence Committee know
our views and contacting local MPs to
ask the to help facilitate a meeting at
Ministerial level so that we can put the
case for protecting the East Riding.”
The council believes the Environment
Agency’s proposals are grossly
inequitable to the East Riding. Apart
from Hull, more properties were subject
to flooding in the East Riding (6,000)
than anywhere else in the country. The
EA’a approach leaves the East Riding
unprotected simply because some of the
properties at risk are dispersed over a
wide area. This approach is no use for
our residents. Moreover, much of the
land at risk of flooding is prime
farmland so the proposals also adversely
impact on the local economy.
The East Riding acts as both a
drainage basin and source of water
supply for many other areas, so it is
all the more inequitable that our area
stands to lose existing levels of
investment as well as receiving no
benefit from the additional national
investment in flood protection.
NOTE – The full agenda report tabled
for Cabinet on 16 June (‘Impact of
changes in flood and coastal risk
management on rural communities’) can be
accessed via the
Cabinet Agenda for 16th June 2009.
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