Flood walls planned for west Hull and Orchard Park

Two huge flood walls costing at least £17m are being planned to protect thousands of properties in Hull.

If given the go-ahead, the two embankment schemes would be the first major physical works to be carried out in the city as a direct result of the 2007 floods.

So far, the only other significant improvements have been a series of upgrades to Yorkshire Water's pumping stations in Hull.

Both projects envisage creating so-called "aqua greens"' to store run-off surface water during periods of heavy rainfall.

One is earmarked for the Springhead golf course in west Hull while the other is being proposed for land between Orchard Park and Cottingham.

The residential areas surrounding the two sites were among the worst hit during the 2007 floods.

Both have been identified as potential interception points for surface water flowing into the city from higher ground in the neighbouring East Riding.

The earth embankments would effectively create barriers to contain flood water, drastically reducing the risk of flooding to nearby homes.

After a storm, the stored water would then be slowly released into nearby drains.

The aqua green initiative is being jointly spearheaded by Hull City Council, East Riding Council, the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water and experts from the University of Hull.

So far £730,000 worth of funding from the city council, the Environment Agency and the Government has been committed to drawing up detailed design and development proposals.

A new report for next week's council cabinet estimates construction costs for the two projects could be between £17.6m and £28.7m.

However, it also says that reducing the flood risk to thousands of homes would be worth the investment.

Such a move could also lower home insurance charges after several firms increased their premiums while others blacklisted some flood-hit households.

Councillor Dave Woods, portfolio holder for the environment, said: "Flood risk has always been a significant issue for the city and this became even more paramount following the floods of 2007.

" Those floods were the first time the city was significantly affected by surface water flooding."

Cllr Woods said identifying two specific locations was an important step.

"I consider it essential the detailed feasibility, design and costings for the construction of the aqua greens at Derringham and Orchard Park are pursued," he added.

Alex Codd, the council's planning manager, said: "Surface water modelling has found that areas to the west of the city are currently at a high risk of surface water flooding.

"The provision of storage areas to collect surface water to the west of Derringham and Orchard Park has been shown to have a dramatic effect on the level of flooding that could be expected in these areas.

"Storage in these areas would also lessen the hydraulic peak loading on the drainage system as a whole."

As yet there is no funding identified for either aqua green scheme, however the costs are likely to be split between the city council, the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water.