Briefing Paper to the Humber LEP

RHICS: Holderness Drain Flood Alleviation Scheme

Briefing Paper of the of the City Planning Manager

1. Summary

The River Hull Integrated Catchment Strategy set out measures to reduce flood risk to both residents and businesses in the River Hull and Holderness Drain catchment. One such scheme was constructing defences to alleviate flooding to east Hull alongside Holderness Drain. The options for flood mitigation in this area were limited due to the existing agricultural land uses and ownership.

An opportunity was presented to Hull City Council by Natural England for combining a flood scheme with habitat creation and amenity as the land involved was for sale. The council pulled together a partnership of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Natural England, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency. The aims of the partnership are to combine objectives to produce a multi benefit scheme on the outskirts of the city which reduces flood risk to property whilst creating publicly accessible ecological habitat.

Each organisation has a strategy or objective such as; Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts - Hull Green Arc, Natural England’s Biodiversity 2020 and Yorkshire Waters Living with Water vision’s, the River Hull Integrated Catchment Strategy, Local Plans and the Strategic Economic Plan for the Humber for the Local Authorities. These strategies all have the ultimate aim of creating a better environment for people and wildlife in terms of economic growth, reducing flood risk, and creating habitat, recreation and amenity. The purchase of the land therefore provided an opportunity for all the shared objectives to be met.

The Holderness Drain Flood Alleviation Scheme is an example of where those aims and objectives can be combined to create multiple benefits and find efficiencies by organisations working on one infrastructure project rather than numerous individual projects. It is an example of delivery of the Living with Water concept that Hull City Council, East Riding of Yorkshire, Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency are embedding with our long term strategy for the city.

Phase I of the scheme involved securing the land purchase in-line with the seller’s timescales. The purchase was required prior to the feasibility for phase II the construction of Author: Status: Date: 23/06/2017 Page 1 of 3

the scheme. As the land is designated as functional floodplain in Hull City Council’s Strategic Flood Risk Assessment the use of the land is limited in terms of appropriate development.

The land purchase completed on the 31st March using LGF and FDGiA. This purchase gives the flexibility the partnership required to align priorities and timescales to create a multiple benefit project which will be the first of its kind in the country.

2. Partnership Funding

When the land was put up for sale by the Crown Estate the potential purchase was discussed at the Hull and East Strategic Flood Partnership. The partnership identified a key opportunity to create a nationally unique flood alleviation scheme to the East of Hull. Working collectively from the outset achieved the following:  Land purchase within all partners and funders agreed timescales  Agreement of future land ownership and responsibilities  Clear objectives for a multi benefit scheme on this site  Sustainable maintenance plans for the future

The land purchase only ultimately occurred due to this very strong partnership.

3. Next Steps

The next steps with phase II of the scheme are to complete the feasibility of the scheme, to optimise the outputs for the partnership and to secure the required funding. The benefits of a large diverse partnership, and scheme, is that it brings additional opportunities for funding sources given the number of objectives it delivers.

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Visual of potential site design

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