New flood and coastal defences payment gap in the East Riding expected to widen

Around £54m is set to be spent on new flood and coastal defences in the East Riding but there is currently an £8m funding gap which is expected to widen, councillors heard.

East Riding Council’s Environment and Regeneration Sub-Committee heard the first round of new flood management works would begin in Holderness under a programme set to run until 2027.

Ben Kirby, a council flood risk strategy engineer, said the programme had been drawn up ahead of climate change straining existing defences and as they age over time.

But he added an estimated extra £50m would be needed to shore up existing, ageing defences while only £3m was available for that in grants.

It comes as the committee heard work on flood alleviation schemes was already underway in Thorngumbald, Hedon, Preston and Burton Pidsea, costing a total of around £11.1m.

Schemes coming later in the current programme include creating new wetlands on the watercourses flowing into Hornsea Mere.

Those already budgeted for include flood schemes in Bilton, Market Weighton, Brough and South Cave, while one in Beeford costing £1.2m is on hold.

A further £500,000 has also been set aside for smaller projects spread across the East Riding which are set to be done in the next two years.

Sustainable drainage systems are also planned at 10 East Riding schools to help them and the surrounding areas.

The works follow a previous round of flood schemes in the East Riding which cost around £90m, reducing risks to around 25,000 homes and more than 1,000 businesses.

But a report to the committee stated flooding was going to happen more often and councillors heard households would have to do more to protect themselves from flooding.

Councillors also heard the River Humber alone is forecast to rise by between 1m and 1.3m by the turn of the next century.

The report stated: “Flood events occurring internationally such as the devastation seen across Central Europe last year and more recently in Pakistan over the past few months have reminded us once again that the future will be challenging.

“As climate change takes hold the expectation is that more extreme weather events, sea level rises and more intense rainfall will increase flood risk to our area.

“The way that tidal flood risk is currently managed cannot continue indefinitely and the scale of risk indicates that we will need to do things differently in the future.”