Fury at plans to put homes at risk of flooding

07:00 - 27-August-2008

East Riding Council are opposing plans that could see large areas of the county left unprotected and at risk from flooding.

Cabinet members will discuss proposals on how to manage the risk of flooding around the Humber Estuary put forward by the Environment Agency next week.

Maintenance of flood defences would be withdrawn and the Agency state within their Humber Flood Risk Management Strategy there will be no compensation for loss of land and property.

The areas affected within the county include Easington, Sunk Island, Hessle, North Ferriby and Brough.

The council estimates approximately 11,000 hectares of "high-grade" agricultural land could be lost, which is potentially worth almost £100m.

The council says it "strongly objects" to the implications of the strategy, due to the loss of land and property and to the "threat to supply of much-needed crops in the East Riding".

It is also calling for compensation for more than 1,000 homes and businesses and residents that will be at risk from flooding over the next 20 years.

Alan Menzies, director of planning and economic regeneration at the council, said: "There is a significant amount of land at threat and somewhere in the order of 1,000 homes and businesses at risk of future flooding.

"The work we have done looking at the agricultural land at risk shows 11,000 hectares could be lost and the potential financial value of that amounts to £99m.

"Such major economic impacts and adverse effects on residents in the East Riding needs to be put in the strongest terms to the Government for them to provide compensation."

Phillip Winn, of the Environment Agency will deliver a presentation to members at the cabinet meeting, which will be held on Tuesday.

A spokesman from the agency said: "The strategy aims to ensure a good standard of protection from tidal flooding for the next 25 years and beyond for 99 per cent of residents round the estuary and the important industrial areas.

"However, there are difficult decisions to make as our funds are limited and so we will not be able to improve all the estuary's defences."

Ed Davey, National Farmers' Union (NFU) group secretary for Holderness, said: "There will be a huge area of land affected.

"Farmland is a finite resource and we are losing land all the time to rising sea levels. Stopping the sea coming in should be a priority.

"The protection of farmland is incredibly important but it isn't just about that. It is also about the local population and I believe 4,000 homes could be lost."