'£1 million could turn the tide' (From Gazette & Herald)

'£1 million could turn the tide'

RYEDALE'S MP is calling for the district council to put its hand in its pocket to the tune of £1 million to help to secure Pickering's long-denied flood defences.

John Greenway has written to Harold Mosley, chief executive of Ryedale District Council (RDC), asking for a share of its £7 to £9 million reserves to kick-start a fundraising campaign.

He hopes it will attract major contributions from Yorkshire Forward and the Environment Agency to realise the £6.7 million scheme designed for the town.

Following the severe floods of October 2000, eight affected towns in North Yorkshire were given priority for flood defence work. Seven of them, including Malton and Norton, got it, with only Pickering left without.

Despite spending £700,000 designing the scheme, the Environment Agency shelved the project in 2004, blaming spiralling costs.

Now Mr Greenway has met with seasoned Ryedale flood campaigner Di Keal, who is part of the Pickering Flood Defence Group, to discuss a new plan for raising the money.

They believe that Yorkshire Forward may contribute to flood defences because it is currently drawing up a masterplan for Pickering, which is likely to involve developing land in the Pickering Beck flood plain.

They want to see the council's £1 million matched by £1.5 million by Yorkshire Forward. The regional development agency gave a similar sum for flood defences in Knottingley as part of redevelopment plans, setting a "clear precedent", they say.

Mr Greenway wrote last week to Mr Mosley, stating: "If we can show local and regional commitment to the proposal, then I do think we have a chance of progressing this plan."

He said that if £2.5 million was in place, the Environment Agency national board would feel obliged to provide the balance of funding.

Di Keal, who is a Ryedale district councillor, has already raised the idea with fellow councillors at a recent meeting of its policy and resources committee. She said it was uncertain what would happen to the council's reserves if local councils were restructured, and that they should be spent to the benefit of Ryedale residents.

Gordon Clitheroe, chairman of the Pickering Flood Defence Group and curator of the Beck Isle Museum, which has suffered major flood damage, welcomed the news.

"£700,000 of tax-payers money has been spent preparing a scheme that's sat on a shelf," he told the Gazette & Herald. "The museum has been flooded five times since 1999 and there's nothing to protect it flooding again tonight or tomorrow.

"I think it's brilliant that Di Keal has come up with this plan and I would urge councillors to back it because if they have got the money in the pot, if reorganisation comes in next year or the year after, the money could go to Scarborough. I would rather we made sure the money was spent in Ryedale."

Updated: 15:33 Wednesday, February 22, 2006