It was understandable that your recent article concerning Yorkshire Water's pumping station on Nethergate in Nafferton focused on the concerns expressed by the residents a year after last summer's floods.
However, it is also important to inform those hit hard by the events of last June of the work being done by Yorkshire Water, the Environment Agency and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to address some of the problems.
Yorkshire Water acknowled
ges lessons have been learned by all the agencies involved and a number of projects have already been carried out to reduce the chances of another flooding event on the same scale should we ever experience such extreme weather in the future.
In Nafferton, a substantial proportion of the flow of storm water into Nethergate has been diverted into The Mere in an effort to reduce the risk of flooding.
Yorkshire Water has also inspected and cleared the sewers, carrying out minor repairs where necessary to speed up to flow of water out of the area.
The company has also invested in new pipe work at the pumping station to make it easier to maintain and, during regular liaison work with the parish council, has acknowledged further work is likely to be necessary in future to cope with additional flows.
However, it is important to emphasise that Yorkshire Water's pumping station was not the cause of the flooding last summer.
Its role is to pump away sewage and not storm water so, even if its capacity was increased significantly, flooding could still occur.
Long-term solutions for Nafferton - and many of the other communities affected by last year's flooding - can only be achieved through a multi-agency approach and Yorkshire Water would like to acknowledge the significant contributions made by the partnerships which have developed since last June and would assure the community that it remains committed to playing its part.
Steve Parsley, representing Yorkshire Water.
