Residents and businesses in the market town of Pickering near Scarborough have been devastated by the news that their flood alleviation scheme has been turned down by the Environment Agency at the national level.

Known as the ‘Gateway to the Moors’, Pickering has an olde world charm, mainly due to the hiss of steam trains from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway as they pull in to Pickering Station close to the town centre.

But boo’s and hisses of high pressure steam from residents have not have gone entirely unheard as the Environment Agency reassured residents last week that the town will still feature in the Environment Agency’s long term plan for flood defences.

The Pickering Flood Alleviation Scheme was reviewed by the Agency at a national level just prior to Christmas (December 2003), but the Agency was unable to recommend the preferred scheme go ahead on economic and environmental grounds.

Peter Holmes, flood defence manager for the Agency’s Dales area, said: "The benefits of the Pickering scheme – in terms of how many properties it will protect for best value for money – are not large enough to justify the amount of work required to significantly reduce the risk of flooding.”

“The estimated cost of the scheme is £6.7 million to protect around 50 properties. In comparison the proposed scheme for Selby is estimated at £10.8 million and will reduce the flood risk for 2,500 properties.”

"The Agency has worked closely with the community over the last year and we understand the disappointment they will experience that the preferred option has not been accepted. But they can take comfort that a scheme has not been ruled out altogether."

The let-down is all the more disappointing for residents as the scheme had previously been given ‘special status’ and highlighted as one for ‘fast-tracking’.

Continued Peter Holmes, “Whilst the scheme benefits from special status, it must still demonstrate a good return on the significant investment of public money. The economic justification for a scheme has always been and remains marginal.”

"There is a limited budget for flood defence works in Yorkshire and the Agency has to ensure this money is spent in the best way, to make it fair for other at risk communities."

The Environment Agency says there is currently an effective flood warning service offered to residents of Pickering and they will continue to provide this service to the community and have established a kite mark system for products, which enable property owners to defend themselves.

The system allows the recipients to take necessary actions to reduce the impact of flooding. This flood warning service has been significantly improved since autumn 2000 through investment in flood forecasting and worked well in August 2002, says the Agency.

A catchment flood management plan is also currently being prepared for the whole of the Derwent. This will promote upland land management to reduce run-off from agricultural land and also try to restore some of the availability of moorland to hold water.