A successful scheme to protect more than 100 homes in one of North Yorkshire’s worst flooding blackspots is set to be rolled out to more communities.
A total of 128 properties in Malton, Norton and Old Malton have been safeguarded through improvements to the homes as part of a £1.5 million collaboration which is now being extended by the new North Yorkshire Council.
Villages surrounding the towns are set to benefit from the initiative, and plans are being considered to use the model employed in Ryedale in other parts of the county to help protect homes and businesses at risk from flooding.
The launch of the new council, which was established on 1 April, is allowing a co-ordinated county-wide approach to services and projects after the previous eight authorities merged.
North Yorkshire has witnessed a series of major flooding incidents in recent years and concerns are growing that the threat of climate change will lead to an increasing number of similar events.
The new council is working to provide greater protection in areas affected by flooding, linking in with key organisations such as the Environment Agency and the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, who also represents the Norton division and whose portfolio includes flood protection, said: “The 2021 flood event was a disruptive and tense time for our communities. The work we have done since then to deliver vital protection for properties in Malton, Norton and wider Ryedale area shows what can be achieved by working with local communities and bringing key partners together.
“This model has been very positively received by Malton and Norton residents, so I am keen to see it rolled out across other parts of the county. Our teams are working to identify the needs of communities at risk of flooding and deliver solutions there too.
“Through close relationships with partner organisations and the Government, we will continue to fight for more funding to help ensure homes and businesses across North Yorkshire are protected as effectively as possible from the future threat of flooding.”
The scheme in Malton, Norton and Old Malton has seen households given additional protection from flooding following a partnership between the former North Yorkshire County Council and former Ryedale District Council, with funding also coming from the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the Environment Agency.
Eligible households were entitled to up to £5,000 for approved alterations, such as flood door barriers, airbricks that close automatically to keep out water, non-return valves on drains to prevent floodwater or sewage backing up, waterproof copings on walls and pumps to remove water.
We are now extending the scheme to cover the Ryedale towns and villages of Sinnington, Kirkbymoorside, Kirkby Mills, Gilling East, Hovingham and Thornton-le-Dale, with £7,000 on offer to households that qualify.
The property level resilience funding has transformed the lives of scores of residents in the Malton and Norton area. Janice and Peter Clark had a removable barrier and a water pump installed at their home in St Nicholas Street, Norton, after suffering years of worry and disruption from flooding.
Peter said: “Now that they’re installed there is an element of assurance that should the flood come from the surface, or from below, at least we have got some protection.”
Peter added: “We have a pump at the front that will go on automatically if water should get under the floor. It pumps the water out and we don’t have to do anything.”
The couple have particularly welcomed a barrier at the back of their property which can be erected in less than 10 minutes.
Fellow Norton resident Clare Harding’s life used to revolve around constantly checking the weather forecast on her phone to see if heavy rain was on the way in case she needed to move furniture and electrical items upstairs at her Church Street home.
Since having a flood barrier, a specialist flood door and a pump installed, her life has been transformed and she says her sleepless nights have gone.
The nightmare of heavy rain was also a daily worry for Julie Keen as storms would cause a deluge of water to run along the passage next to her home in Wallgates Lane, flooding the property. Under the scheme she had removable flood barriers and a flood door fitted which provide her with “peace of mind”, especially if she is going away on holiday.
A drop-in event involving representatives from ourselves, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and the Environment Agency will be held for people in the new areas being targeted under the scheme this month. It will take place at Kirkbymoorside Fire Station in New Road on Tuesday, 25 April, between 2pm and 7pm.
In addition to protecting individual homes, the previous £1.5 million in funding paid for wider measures across the area, including permanent brackets, pipework and hard standing at various locations, such as County Bridge, Tate Smith Yard and Old Malton. Cameras were also installed at these locations to enable water levels to be monitored remotely.
The scheme built upon the Malton, Norton and Old Malton pump plan devised following major flooding in 2000 and the building of flood defences in 2004. That multi-agency operation was first implemented in 2012 and most recently in the aftermath of the prolonged rain brought by Storm Christoph in January 2021.