Work on a new multi-million pound pumping station that will reduce
the risk of flooding to 1,000 homes gets under way this week.
Part of a £28.5 million flood alleviation scheme, the new East
Hull Pumping Station will be built at the southern end of the
Holderness Drain, where it meets the Humber in Marfleet, after
city planners gave the go-ahead last month.
It will enable the discharge of water from Holderness Drain to
the estuary at high tide when water levels in the drain are
raised, pumping up to ten tonnes of water a second, reducing
flood risk to areas in east Hull.
To ensure that the work is done safely given the current
coronavirus situation everyone working on the new pumping station
will be following strict Government guidelines in relation to
social distancing.
The pumping station is phase one of the Holderness Drain Flood
Alleviation Scheme, with work set to start on a second phase to
create a flood relief area near the historic Castle Hill monument
area, east of Bransholme and Sutton, later this year.
Andrew Barron, the Environment Agency’s senior flood risk advisor
for Hull, said:
It is great news that this scheme is coming to fruition. Hull
and the surrounding area is very low lying and this pumping
station is vital to keep water moving into the Humber estuary.
This is part of a £200 million investment with partners in
reducing flood risk in Hull and the East Riding over the last
five years.
All our works are undertaken within Government guidelines, in
particular social distancing to protect local people and those
working on the new pumping station.
As an organisation we are doing everything we can to support
our community, our government and the NHS by abiding by these
measures.
The scheme is a partnership project with Hull City Council, East
Riding of Yorkshire Council, the Humber Local Enterprise
Partnership and Highways England.
Highways England contributed £5 million towards the scheme from
its Environment Designated Fund, which helps to improve flood
resilience and reduce flood risks to communities close to its
network of roads.
Highways England assistant project manager Matt Armitage said:
We are delighted to be able to support the Environment Agency
and contribute £5 million to this scheme.
When complete it will protect local homes and roads from
flooding and reduce the need for local traffic to be diverted
onto the A63, minimising future disruption along this key Hull
route.
The Humber Local Enterprise Partnership secured £2.14 million
towards the project through the Local Growth Fund as part of the
Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse. The project
is part of the wider River Hull Integrated Catchment Strategy,
which has seen an overall total Local Growth Fund investment of
£3.8 million.
Lord Chris Haskins, Chair of the Humber LEP, said:
The Humber LEP is pleased to support this important project
through the Local Growth Fund.
Communities across the Humber continue to be affected by
flooding and we are very glad to see work begin on this flood
alleviation scheme to help protect residents and businesses in
Hull.
Councillor Mike Thompson, portfolio holder for neighbourhoods,
communities and environment at Hull City Council, said:
We are delighted to see this critical work get under way. The
pumping station is the first piece of a much bigger jigsaw and
the work done in terms of partnership funding to get it to this
stage.
These defence measures will help to minimise the impact of
flooding to some of our area’s most vulnerable parts of land,
and highlights the continued commitment we have to protecting
homes from flooding.
Councillor Chris Matthews, portfolio holder for strategic
management at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said:
I’m delighted that work will soon start on this much needed
scheme which will benefit so many residents.
This project is the latest component of the River Hull
Integrated Catchment Strategy (RHICS) to move forward. The
strategy provided the local framework for investment in flood
alleviation in the River Hull Valley and was adopted by the
partnership River Hull Board in 2015.
There is an existing pumping station by Hedon Road (A1033), built
in 1949, but the Agency says it has reached its end of life, and
it is more economically viable and beneficial to reducing flood
risk to build a brand new structure downstream nearer the
Holderness Drain’s confluence with the estuary.
The Holderness Drain was first built in the 18th century to drain
carr lands on the east side of Hull. The new flood alleviation
work is being carried to continue to maintain this historic
drainage system.
