Tyre shreds dam gets MP's interest (From Gazette & Herald)

Tyre shreds dam gets MP's interest

A NORTH YORKSHIRE MP says an innovative embankment dam system - made from bags of shredded tyres - could be a viable solution to a town's flooding problems.

Jonathan Palmer, director of Instant Barrage Services (IBS), invited Ryedale MP John Greenway, along with a group of officials, to join him on a journey on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to show them the sites for his proposed flood defences on Pickering Beck, above Pickering.

Present were an official from the Duchy of Lancaster, which owns the land where the dams would be built, members of the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust, and a representative from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE).

Mr Greenway said: "I think we have to explore every possibility, given that the Environment Agency hasn't been able to come up with a viable scheme after three years and given the sums of public money involved. Ultimately I'm going to speak to the Environment Agency about their flood and river management. If this scheme is carried out it would not be irreversible."

Mr Palmer was confident his revolutionary system of flood defences could be installed to protect the Ryedale market town for about half-a-million pounds, which is a fraction of the cost of the Environment Agency's shelved proposals.

The Environment Agency had previously rejected the idea by saying that the site was a "sensitive environmental area" and there was a risk of pollution from the shredded tyres - a point Mr Palmer refuted, saying the material would be washed and cleaned.

He showed the group the proposed positions of four dams, which would be constructed with large bags of filters made from crumbed tyres, then covered with earth.

In a previous demonstration, members of Pickering Flood Defence Group saw how one of the filters could absorb more than its own weight in water in five minutes.

John Lindley, a representative for the CPRE, said: "The Duchy of Lancaster is a major landowner in this area and is very much part of the community of Ryedale. The Duchy and the CPRE feel that these flood proposals for Pickering have distinct possibilities."

Roger Heath, chairman of the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust, said: "The North Yorkshire Moors Railway supports the Pickering Flood relief scheme, providing that it does not affect the integrity of the railway track in any way."

Updated: 12:33 Tuesday, May 04, 2004