Residents lose battle to block water station
PLANS for a controversial new pumping station in Kingswood have been approved despite protests from residents.
Hull City Council's planning committee approved the plans at a meeting yesterday after an initial application was rejected last year.
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STANCE: Residents opposing the planned pumping station near their homes in Selset Way, Kingswood. Picture: Peter Harbour
The station, which will be built in Selset Way, will help protect more than 15,000 homes from flooding, according to Yorkshire Water.
Matt Thompson, a spokesman for the water company, said: "We're delighted our proposals have been approved by the planning committee.
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"The decision means we can now begin work on a much needed, state-of-the-art pumping station, which will help to better protect more than 15,000 properties in the Bransholme and Kingswood areas from the risk of flooding in the future."
The facility will be built next to the existing site, with the old station being demolished once its replacement is fully operational.
Stephanie Walden, planning manager at Yorkshire Water, said the station would go a long way to ensuring there is no repeat of the devastating effects of the 2007 floods.
She said: "This is one of the most vulnerable areas in the country with regards to flooding.
"We need to act quickly to protect houses in Bransholme and the surrounding areas."
The firm was criticised over the lack of consultation with residents that will be directly affected.
Ever since the initial plans for the facility were proposed, residents in the area voiced their concerns.
Pauline Cochran, of Selset Way, spoke on behalf of residents at yesterday's meeting.
"These are our homes and this will spoil our lives," she said.
"What Yorkshire Water has done is propaganda and scaremongering.
"There is no guarantee the new station will protect homes from future flooding but a decision has been made."
The revised application included reducing the height of the building by three feet and including windows in the exterior walls.
Mr Thompson said Yorkshire Water had consulted with residents on a regular basis and would continue to do so.
He said: "From the very beginning, we've liaised closely with the community and used their feedback to help shape our plans."
"We'll continue to liaise closely with the local community to update them on how our work is progressing and how the new pumping station will benefit them."
Three alternative sites were considered but, according to Yorkshire Water, all would impact on the structure of flood banks in the area.
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by Domestic Bliss Cleaning Services
Friday, March 08 2013, 7:32PM
“Seems like you have answered my question by not replying and you would do exactly the same as us if they wanted to build this on your doorstep ha ha :D and it would take some remodeling but would still be a cheaper option to them as they would be able to house it in a shed like building”
by OldSkoolCool
Friday, March 08 2013, 2:06PM
“Surely it would be more controversial should they have decided not to upgrade the pumping station at all? I understand that there's a more suitable site for the building next to Cineworld however it would mean a complete re-modeling of the connection to the River Hull wouldn't it? I'm guessing that's not an easy thing to do.
On a lighter note, as a youngster my friends and I used to throw stones over the fence to break the crust on the cess pits, it was very reminiscent of the Bog of Eternal Stench from Labyrinth.”
by Domestic Bliss Cleaning Services
Thursday, March 07 2013, 10:04PM
“WE DIDNT FLOOD IN 2007 , still not answered the question, would you not fight if this was going on your doorstep knowing it can be placed just meters away without a problem??”
by ajw82
Thursday, March 07 2013, 9:00PM
“So people who have decided to buy a house on a floodplain are getting upset with measures to reduce the possibliity of their homes flooding? Where's the logic in that?
If you don't want your house to flood, move to higher ground and stop moaning, there are a lot more people in the world who are far, far worse off than having a building next to their houses that may save the from a catastrophe!”
by Strangley
Thursday, March 07 2013, 8:52PM
“@Flying_Saucer
Your argument is illogical. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
Live long & prosper!”
by Woodhey
Thursday, March 07 2013, 8:45PM
“As someone who made regular visits to site when these dwellings were being built, my immediate thought was people buying these properties could not have missed the large lagoon and the pumphouses already in situ.
Put simply, I wouldn't have moved there in the first place. The whole site is built on an old water sewage treatment plant and the earth stinks of sewage. I feel sorry for the occupiers up to a point, but there again, from what I remember, the reasonably low purchase price of the houses reflected the fact that it was a brownfield site.”
by Hosni
Thursday, March 07 2013, 6:52PM
“Ok should have tried harder, please replace narrow minded nimby's with selfish money fixated moaners lacking a rational argument why thousands of people should be denied additional infrastructure to avoid the misery of a flooded home.”
by john0906
Thursday, March 07 2013, 6:21PM
“Did the houses ever cost £30,000 in the first place Ha Ha and great commnet Consort 14 when I scrolled back up to look at the photo I had to laugh Ha Ha”
by upsetresident
Thursday, March 07 2013, 4:08PM
“Its not construction noise we are concerned about its the vibrations and noise that the new pumping stations ARE going to cause forvever, Barratt are still building here and we except that, Yorkshire water had 4 lots of plans drawn up, 2 of which the enviormantal health said would not be suitable , Yorkshire water had a 2nd option that was clearly exceptable to both them and us but "prefared" this one.
We know everyones house prices have dropped we could not do anything about this but we tried to stop our house prices fall even further is that so wrong when we know it could of been avoided ?
It IS a fact that this new pumping station will not be able to cope with nowhere near the amount of flooding we saw in 2007 they have admited this themselves,
If you and other people are genuinly concerned about further flooding then why not question Yorkshire water why they are not addressing that?
None of you still havnt answered my question would you be happy if they built this massive building feet from your home knowing for a fact they HAVE other options?”
by Fogeyspasm
Thursday, March 07 2013, 3:37PM
“So you have to contend with construction noise. You would also have to if they decided to build further domestic properties on the site.
House prices have crashed for everyone, buying a house is a gamble.
The 2007 floods were described as a one in a million occurrence. Time will tell but Yorkshire Water are not going to build something that serves no purpose. The pumps will be designed to cope with all reasonable predictions and there must be some reason for the plants position other than aesthetics. Lastly, when the houses on the estate were purchased, wasn't a land search done?
Surely it would have come up as land for Industrial use or future residential. I know when we bought our last one we were shown maps of the surrounding land and areas marked for residential, commercial and all access routes.”