Three years on from floods that submerged thousands of acres of prime agricultural land in the bread basket of Yorkshire, the NFU is stunned by Environment Agency plans to withdraw maintenance from three water pumping stations on the River Hull.
According to the Agency’s own figures, this could result in damage to farming businesses topping £13 million in the event of a serious flood - as happened in 2007 - and this says the NFU is totally unacceptable.
Speaking on the opening day of the Great Yorkshire Show, NFU President Peter Kendall will highlight the growing ‘chorus of dismay’ over the proposals set out in the Agency’s newly published flood risk management strategy – which is the first in the region to advocate abandoning pump maintenance.
“It may seem out of place to talk about too much water after such a prolonged dry spell, but flooding has had a serious impact on farming across Northern England for several years in succession.
“Crop losses have run into millions of pounds and farmers are rightly concerned about the Agency’s approach to productive agricultural land, proposing policies that also threaten to significantly increase the flood risk for Hull due to the resulting higher water table.
“The strategy’s proposal to withdraw funding for the pumps at Wilfholme, Hempholme and Tickton ignores all of the representations made by the NFU. Having seen first hand the impact of flooding in the region, such a move would severely damage the competitiveness of agriculture and horticulture on the banks of the Hull.
“We all understand the financial pressures that Government and its agencies face in tackling the deficit, but the Environment Agency needs to think more cleverly and work in partnership with farmers so that we can protect some of the best and most versatile land in Northern England.”
The strategy, which sets out a 100-year blueprint for managing the River Hull, also proposes to withdraw maintenance funding above Hempholme Weir where the flood banks are in need of major investment.
The argument being put forward by the Environment Agency is that such expenditure does not meet government funding rules, but the policy threatens to leave farmers counting the cost.
According to Beverley farmer Martin Voase, the pumps are absolutely crucial to maintaining agricultural production around Driffield and Beverley.
“The flood banks and pumps that the Agency wants to abandon protect more than 5,500 hectares of prime agricultural land and without them it’s simple: not only will important food crops be at risk, but that increased risk will be shared by the people of Hull.
“This is something we have to fight now as the prospect of this policy being applied elsewhere does not bear thinking about.”
In fighting these proposals, the NFU will be joining forces with other organisations such as the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, whose members have already expressed real concern, and farmers across the affected area are being urged to send their comments direct to the Environment Agency and their MPs.
“Three years ago, we had the spectacle of farmers rowing boats across their fields, with crops totally submerged beneath the floodwater and that is certainly not something we ever want to see again,” added Peter Kendall.
“In other recent dealings with the Agency there has been a recognition that productive farming matters. As farmers celebrate all that is great about farming in Yorkshire at this year’s show I would urge the Environment Agency to take note that farmers and the country as a whole, want food, not floods.”
No comments have been made.