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Calderdale Council is hoping to submit plans for Hebden Bridge flood defences later this year.

Planning applications and a full business case for extensive river scheme work are set to be submitted this winter.

They are part of measures being undertaken as part of the major £27.2 million Hebden Bridge flooding alleviation project, flood partners have been told.

Calderdale Flood Recovery and Resilience Programme Board partners agreed they need a more in-depth report next time they meet.

The town has been hit hard by flooding in previous years (Getty Images)

Calderdale Council’s Chief Executive, Robin Tuddenham, said: “Hebden Bridge is a huge, complex scheme – in terms of the number of homes we protect, it is more than that rest of the other schemes combined.”

In terms of river defences, late-stage design drawings will be reviewed and finalised over the coming months, and, with a “value engineering” exercise complete, opportunities to deliver the scheme more efficiently in some locations have been identified.

Vegetation has been removed from some of the riverside walls and engineers have put together a schedule of inspections to look at the condition of the walls to inform final design.

Talks with weir owners following outline designs for these on waterways near Hebden Bridge are continuing.

A small number of archaeological trial pits being undertaken near Packhorse Bridge – close to the Hebden Water’s wavy steps – suggest there is a moderate potential for medieval archaeology and post-medieval archaeology, and this will inform design – with footpath access maintained – says the report to the board.

The community and businesses will be notified ahead of any work starting.

In terms of solutions to try and mitigate surface water issues which form part of the challenge flooding poses to the town, ground investigation work to validate scheme design and identify which services need to be diverted will now take place later in the year.

Collaboration with Yorkshire Water aiming to reduce the number of spills from sewer overflows is ongoing.

Hebden Bridge is one of the Calderdale towns hardest hit by severe flooding events over the past 25 years with increasing frequency since 2012.

A major £41 million scheme to protect neighbouring Mytholmroyd has already been completed.

A number of smaller upper Calder Valley schemes are also at various stages.

Hebden Bridge: Plans move forward to protect Calderdale town from floods