PLANS for a £4.6million scheme which aims to reduce the risk of major flooding to a town near York has been given the go-ahead by planners.

The proposal is for the construction of a flood attenuation bund across Pocklington Beck, on land east of Fairview, The Mile, Pocklington.

The earth bund would be about five metres high, 600 metres long and 45 metres wide, with a five metre wide access or maintenance strip that would run across the top of the bund.

A culvert would also run through the bund with a flow control device to maintain the flow of Pocklington Beck.

Pocklington Town Council said it understood that the scheme would be built for a one in 75-year flood event, mitigating the flood risk in Pocklington.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council received letters of objection from 12 people.

Their concerns include: the scheme may create a flood danger for residents, that it would not address the issues resulting in previous flooding in the town, that it would have a detrimental effect on wildlife, loss of agricultural land, and that other cost effective measures to prevent future flooding in Pocklington may be possible.

The scheme was approved by East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s planning committee at its last meeting, subject to various conditions.

The scheme is a specific policy requirement of a neighbouring housing allocation site.

A planning application to build 197 homes on this site, which is land north and east of The Mile, was deferred at the same committee meeting for further consideration of the density and housing mix.