Last phase of flood defence work around Beverley Westwood under way
FLOOD defence works to protect homes overlooking Beverley Westwood should be finished this summer – a year later than expected.
The £1m-plus scheme has been hit by delays – including flooding, which saw the area swamped in standing water earlier this year.
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DIGGING DEEP: From left, resident Les Diment, East Riding Council principal engineer Mike Ball, site manager Andy Thorley Councillor Chris Matthews. Picture: Simon Kench
The final stage of the protection scheme, which will see a £600,000 flood defence wall built in front of houses in Willow Grove, is now under way.
The scheme aims to reduce the risk of flooding in the area, where homes were deluged with water in the floods of June 2007.
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Mike Ball, principal engineer at East Riding Council, said: "We need to get that wall built and then we can all rest more easily.
"We can never say something will definitely stop flooding but we are reducing the risk."
Work on the flood protection wall follows the installation of a large underground tank to take pressure off the local sewerage network during periods of heavy rainfall.
In addition to the underground tank – installed by Yorkshire Water at the corner of Pasture Terrace and York Road – 100 metres of bigger sewer pipes have been inserted to increase capacity.
The start of work on the flood defence wall was delayed for seven weeks at the beginning of the year while a large area of standing water was pumped away from Beverley Westwood following heavy rainfall.
Fire crews were called out several times over Christmas and the New Year to pump standing water away from the site, where a large lake had formed.
Contractors are still pumping water away to enable the building work to take place.
Mr Ball said: "We are still pumping water away from the site.
"When you start scooping out the ground with a big digger the water will flow into it.
"We are progressing but the work is weather dependent. "We are going at it as quickly as we can."
Les Diment, whose Willow Grove home was flooded in 2007, said residents are looking forward to the completion of the scheme.
He said flood water following the heavy rainfall over Christmas and New Year had threatened a number of properties.
Mr Diment said: "The water came very close to five houses. They were only just saved from flooding by the fire brigade and council pumping it away.
"There will be great relief when the work is finished."
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