Hull flood prevention scheme secures govt funding
A number of lagoons, embankments, and watercourses are being planned for the village of Bilton following a £13m flood defence grant from Defra.
For the next stage of the project, the council will engage with key project partners and stakeholders as part of the development of the scheme and the design process.
Work could begin in early 2027, subject to the council securing the relevant planning permissions and consents.
Having suffered from multiple floods in the past, the project aims to reduce flooding caused by heavy rainfall.
This latest funding is in addition to a £650,000 Local Levy contribution from the Yorkshire Regional Flood and Coastal Committee.
The flood alleviation scheme has been developed in partnership between the council and Yorkshire Water as part of the wider Living With Water (LWW) Partnership.
Established in 2017, LWW is a partnership between Yorkshire Water, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull City Council, the Environment Agency and the University of Hull.
Yorkshire Water is already investing £4m in Bilton in an ongoing programme to install sustainable drainage systems across the village.
Professor Colin Mellors, chair of the Yorkshire Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, said: “The committee is very pleased to support this important scheme, which will better protect 188 residential and 11 non-residential properties from future flooding in Bilton.
“Through the creative deployment of a number of interventions, it is intended to help reduce the flood risks that affect this area, and which will only increase with climate change.”
Cllr Paul West, the council’s portfolio holder for environment and climate change, said: “This project will join the other multi-million-pound flood alleviation schemes we have already built across the East Riding which have proved essential in diverting floodwater from communities when it rains heavily.
“The likelihood of flooding is only going to get worse, so working together with Yorkshire Water and our other Living With Water partners on this scheme and the others planned is more important than ever.”