New flood alleviation scheme in Filey 'already working' says Councillor

Filey's new flood alleviation scheme is already working according to one of the town's councillors.

Mike Cockerill, who is a resident, and also sits on Scarborough Borough Council, says recent rain has been diverted into the newly-built ditch around Filey.

The £4.3 million project has been nearly 20 years in the making.

Mike said:

"The work officially started in July and the latest information that I've got is that the actual flood works should be more or less complete by the end of March, then there are some environmental enhancements, footpaths and such, and that's due to finish in the middle of July.

"It's had quite a few tests over the last couple of months. People who live in what I'll call the Wooldale Drive cul-de-sac have a ditch immediately to the rear of their properties, in which the water used to flow and in bad times, it used to overflow into their gardens and properties.

"I was forever getting phone calls in the middle of the night 'Mike, Mike! The ditch is full, we're going to get flooded again.' Well now, I get phone calls again 'Mike, Mike! There's only two inches of water in the ditch.'"

"I know a lot of people who have twice been affected flooded out of their homes are very relieved. Some people used to set their alarms every 90 minutes to check during the night if they were getting flooded, if heavy rain was forecast. Now they can sleep peacefully."

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• scarborough borough council