‘Half a million homes at risk’: Emma Hardy MP seeks new powers for Humber flood protection group

Pictures by Tom Arran Commercial Photography

By Simon Bristow

Hull MP Emma Hardy will today present a Private Member’s Bill to Parliament aimed at giving a Humber flood protection partnership statutory powers, claiming the region is “years behind” a similar scheme in London.

Unless action is taken, rising sea levels will threaten the homes of half a million people in the Humber, lower Ouse and Trent region, along with 14,000 businesses, major chemical and manufacturing industries, large areas of productive farmland, and the UK’s largest port complex, Ms Hardy said.

Her Bill also highlights “growing concerns over a lack of progress by the Humber 2100+ partnership”, which is led by the Environment Agency [EA] and which was created to develop a solution to the threat.

In a meeting in November 2020, the Hull West and Hessle Labour MP was told that by 2023, the aim was to have had two rounds of public consultations, partnership approval of a final plan and the plan submitted to the Large Projects Review Group.

‘WE’RE YEARS BEHIND LONDON’: Emma Hardy MP, who is today introducing a Private Member’s Bill seeking statutory powers for the Humber 2100+ partnership

Instead, the EA has been forced to review its original data modelling and undertake a second modelling exercise before bringing these results back to the partners for approval.

Ms Hardy said the Humber 2100+ partnership was “years behind” progress of the Thames Estuary project. A costed timetable for the Thames to 2100 is in place, with an estimate of £9.3bn to £11.3b, which has been assessed and approved as “economically viable”, even after this estimate increased from the original.

The Thames Estuary 2100 Plan has a budget of £184.4m for the next three years, while the Humber 2100+ project has £12.1m, all of which had to be applied for through Defra Grant in Aid. However, the existing Thames barrier is expected to protect London until 2070, while Hull’s current defences only protect it until 2040.

Ms Hardy said: “We are years behind what is happening in London in terms of planning and funding. It is hard to imagine the situation being reversed, but it is easy to imagine why there could be a lack of interest in something happening so far from Whitehall.

“The enormity and importance of this project must be recognised in government and the Environment Agency must be given the powers it requires to make progress. I hope this Bill will draw attention to the urgent need for action to safeguard the futures of more than half a million people.”