Four projects worth a total of £11m are to go ahead in towns and villages in South Holderness to reduce the risk of flooding in the area.
East Riding Council has secured the funding for the building of the £2.5m Hedon Flood Alleviation Scheme, the £3.4m Preston and Hedon North Flood Alleviation Scheme, the £3.1m Thorngumbald Flood Alleviation Scheme and the £2.1m Burton Pidsea Flood Alleviation Scheme.
The four towns and villages have suffered from significant flood events in the past, most notably in 2007, when hundreds of properties were flooded across the area.
The new projects will see the construction of a series of measures at each site, including embankments, floodwalls, new watercourses and sustainable drainage measures such as swales and flood retention ponds.
These are designed to both divert and store flood water during periods of intense rainfall to reduce the risk of flooding to homes and businesses in the area.
As part of the schemes, the council will also work with residents and businesses in the area to show them what measures they can take to reduce their own flood risk.
The council has already carried out a comprehensive technical study to secure funding for the projects, which included detailed flood risk modelling.
Following the submission of individual business cases, the schemes have been awarded approximately £9m of flood defence grant-in-aid funding from Defra, administered by the Environment Agency.
This is in addition to contributions from the Department for Education, other central government departments, and Local Levy funding from the Yorkshire Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) totalling approximately £2m. East Riding Council contributed funding towards the feasibility studies.
For the next stage, the council will engage with key project partners such as the Living with Water Partnership, and the local community as part of the design and development of the schemes.
Subject to planning permission and obtaining the necessary permissions and consents, it is expected construction will begin in early 2024.
Climate predictions suggest that flood events, such as the ones experienced previously in South Holderness, are likely to happen more often in the future.
The four flood alleviation schemes aim to mitigate this risk and reduce the risk of flooding caused by future severe rainfall events.
Councillor Chris Matthews, the council’s portfolio holder for environment and climate change, said: “This is another example of a significant investment in flood risk management in the East Riding with all four projects to be delivered by the council.
“Once complete, the schemes will reduce flood risk to hundreds of properties in South Holderness and I look forward to seeing the schemes progress over the coming years.”
The four projects are the latest of the council’s £100m programme of flood alleviation schemes to be built since 2015, which have reduced flood risk to around 25,000 properties.
This includes the successful completion of some of the largest surface water flood alleviation schemes in the country.
Dean Hamblin, flood and coastal risk management senior adviser at the Environment Agency, said: “Over recent years, Yorkshire and the Humber has seen more investment than anywhere else in the country when it comes to reducing flood risk, and it’s great to see even more being secured here for the East Riding.
“The approval of these four schemes gives further evidence of how we can deliver real benefits to local communities when working in partnership to reduce flood risk.
“While we expect more extreme weather with the impacts of climate change, these schemes will reduce the likelihood of flooding and limit the wider impacts and disruption it brings in future.”
Clive Sillince, head of risk mitigations services at the Department for Education, said: “This is a small but significant step in our efforts to reduce flood risk – and in doing so supporting families and children by helping to provide the best start in life for all.”
