Hull and East Riding.co.uk reports that Talks will take place next week over the Environment agency’s proposals to manage flood risk on five rivers in the East Riding, where low-lying farm land would be used as “water storage areas”.

The plans would mean, in times of flooding and heavy rain, parts of the countryside would be used to hold flood water from rivers and streams.

Maintenance of flood defences would be withdrawn and land that frequently floods would be submerged in a bid to protect property and other areas.

Farmer John Duggleby claimed the agency wants to sacrifice farmland and property in the East Riding in a bid to protect Hull from flooding.

“They seem to think if they carry out what they are proposing it will save Hull,” he said.

Mr Duggleby accused the agency of “walking away from its obligations”.

He said: “It beggars belief. We in the farming industry clean out our dykes every year.”

A spokeswoman for the Environment agency said: “The strategy is still in its early stages, nothing is a fait accompli.”

Stone Creek on Boxing Day

StoneCreek-BoxingDay

StoneCreek-BoxingDay

Keith Meadley remembers scything ditches & has kindly sent us this comment:

I was born in 1953 and lived on Sunk Island at what was then Humberdale Farm which my father farmed until he retired, there used to be a series of ditches round most of the fields in the whole area, my dad used to keep the ones round our farm cleaned out and most of the other farmers did theirs, these ran into one that was almost a drain, it may be a childhood memory but I remember my dad using a scythe and reaching up above his head with it to cut all the side, so it must have been at least six to eight feet deep, I can’t remember what year it was but it must have been a spring high tide and every ditch and drain was full of water but as far as I can remember none of the fields were flooded, I can also remember the riverbank being built up with tons of soil, this could have been after that particular incident.

But my main point to this comment is that looking on Google earth there appears to be no drains or ditches left anymore, just fields that have been joined together for more profit, surely there is food for thought on replacing some of this system which seemed to work “in the good old days”, not having been back to Sunk Island for some time I can’t say firsthand what the exact situation is, but I for one would not like to see the flooding of a very special area.

Click the link to read about weeding the ditches

Villagers in Ottringham have signed the opposition to the Humber Strategy Flood petition.  The papers with all the signatures have been posted to Graham Stuart who is co-ordinating the petition.

The Environment Agency has suggested that everyone prepares a flood kit, for use if flooding occurrs.

The flood kit should include essential items such as:

• copies of insurance documents
• a torch
• bottled water
• important contact details
• warm waterproof clothes and blankets

The flood procedure for Sunk Island will be:

• head north
• remember to pick up the flood kit

Graham Stuart introduced the topic of  Rivers Hull and Humber (Flood Risk) in a House of Commons debate on 10 December 2008.  Click this link for details of the debate.

Mr Stuart said:

‘I want to consider Sunk Island, and perhaps bring the numbers to life. More than 600 homes are due to be abandoned on Sunk Island. Under the system, however, its total priority score was just 17.2—well short of the 26 points required for funding. That was due mostly to its poor economic score, which is calculated by dividing what is known as the present value benefit by the present value cost; one then arrives at the benefit-cost ratio. “PV benefit” refers to the amount of money that it would cost to rebuild flood-hit homes. “PV cost” refers to the amount of money that it would cost, over 100 years, to maintain the flood defences. For Sunk Island, the total PV benefit was £59,151,000, and the total PV cost was £10,642,000. That left a benefit-cost ratio of 5.56. Owing to the complex scoring system, that corresponded to a final economic score of 10.12.

However, the total value of land and property on Sunk Island is much greater than £59 million. According to the Environment Agency, there are 6,812 acres of land in the Sunk Island area. That land is among the most productive farm land not only in the UK and Europe but the whole world. If the average acre is worth £6,500 and we multiply the figures, we get a total of £44,278,000. In addition, there are 685 properties on Sunk Island that are due to lose flood protection. If we give a value of £150,000 a property, we arrive at a figure of more than £100 million. If we add the two amounts together, the total PV benefit is £147 million. That provides a benefit-cost ratio of 13.8 and a final economic score of 20.

I hope that the Minister can tell the communities that I represent why there is such a discrepancy between their understanding of the value of their homes, and the land on which they live, and the notional numbers that the Environment Agency uses.’

One-off compensation for the change in value will be paid to farmers whose land is sacrificed as part of controversial Environment Agency flood protection plans, reports Hull& East Riding News
They plan that in times of flooding and heavy rain farmland would be used as “water storage areas”, flood defences would not be maintained and water on flooded land would not be pumped away. Read the rest of this entry »

HUMBER ESTUARY CONFERENCE 2008 is on Wednesday 19th November 2008 9.45am-4pm
The Buckingham Suite, Reeds Hotel, Barton upon Humber
The annual Humber Estuary Conference provides an occasion to meet, exchange information, and discuss opportunities and possible conflicts.

This year’s main theme is ‘The View from 2030’ - what do we want the Humber to look like in the future and how we will work together to get there?
The conference is free to all interested in the Humber and is sponsored by Humber
INCA and the Humber Management Scheme. These are two of the partnerships much
concerned with well-being of the Humber communities and wildlife; and the practical
integration of environmental management into business activities for mutual benefit.

Every type of drain – from tiny rural becks to Hull’s underground urban sewer network – will be mapped in a detailed survey of East Yorkshire’s drainage system commissioned by a newly formed group.

Hull City Council, East Riding Council, the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water have agreed to commit time, funding and energy into completing the research study as soon as possible.
The hydrological study will be one of the first major pieces of work to be commissioned by a new partnership set up to plan and co-ordinate drainage management issues across the region. The data will allow experts to make better decisions on future investment and help prevent a repeat of the flooding experienced in June 2007.

Toby Willison, regional director of the Environment Agency, said: “The study will identify where additional funding will be needed.”

Jamie comments:

• I am still a little confused as last nights meeting seemed full of contradiction.

• Is this purely a money issue or a wildlife conservation issue (probably both).

• There appears to be back tracking from Mr Winn and his colleagues as the strategy has changed from 30yrs to 40yrs and the proposed strategy is now apparently “not set in stone”. Read the rest of this entry »