Flood plan green light for two Grimsby housing estates

TWO Grimsby housing estates at risk of flooding will benefit from new protection now permission to build better flood defences has been granted.

North East Lincolnshire Council has given the green light on a new flood alleviation scheme for the Willows and Wybers Wood.

Both were devastated by the flash floods of 2007.

But now permission has been granted to build a new flood defence bank on the New Cut Drain and the Willows estate.

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Sections of the bank which currently separates the New Cut Drain from the Freshney Washland Flood Storage Reservoir will be removed to increase the size of the reservoir.

This will allow more water to be stored during high river flows.

Environment Agency project manager Bethany Gardner said: "The Freshney scheme will reduce the risk of flooding from the River Freshney and New Cut Drain.

"We are delighted it has been given planning permission and that we are now able to get on with our work."

Martin Ellis, of Anderby Drive, where dozens of homes were flooded, said: "When they put this in place there should be a better insurance rate but up until now my insurance has stayed the same.

"Anything that is going to protect properties is good news."

The Grimsby Telegraph broke the news to Robert Holmes, 66, of Grasby Crescent, who said: "That is brilliant. Any work which is done to the environment round here is excellent, particularly when we get rain like we had today and everyone gets worried."

Environment Agency contractors Jackson Civil Engineering will start working at the site in late September and will complete the work by March.

The news comes as residents in Cleethorpes, also at risk of flooding, battle to get their homes insured.

Residents living in the resort are either struggling to get home insurance or have been forced to pay "enormous" sums of money to insurance companies.

According to the Environment Agency, most of Cleethorpes is "at risk" of flooding, but some areas – such as Haverstoe ward – have not actually flooded for 60 years.

Now, Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers has taken up the issue with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) after meeting with residents from the Haverstoe Community Forum.

The ABI is currently "in discussions" with central Government over home insurance for flood risk areas.

One option is that all homes are covered but with a cap on the annual premium paid. Any property with a risk priced above the cap would get its insurance from a centralised pool of money, paid for by a levy on every home in the country.

ABI spokesperson Sarah Bailey said: "Nothing has been agreed, but both ABI and the government share a common aim – to do everything we can to ensure flood cover remains widely available and competitively priced."

Editor's Opinion: Britain's flood risk problem