"We will ensure businesses are supported" - Hebden Bridge flood alleviation scheme will be worth it, says council leader

Plans to improve the town's flood resilience include raising and strengthening river walls, constructing new flood barriers and bridge reinforcements.

Speaking at the recent Flood Summit event at Dean Clough, Lyn Peart, Yorkshire Area Director of the Environment Agency, said she forsees the full business case for the £27m scheme being submitted by Spring this year, which she described as a "huge milestone".

But the project has met with some opposition in the town, with concerns being raised about the impact the work will have on trade as well as the landscape.

Councillor Jane Scullion, Leader of Calderdale Council, said: “Following years of partnership working, the Environment Agency’s proposed Hebden Bridge Flood Alleviation Scheme is a significant investment in the future of the town.

"With such a major planned investment comes the need for detailed investigations, research, preparation, consultation and design work, to get the best possible solution for the whole community.

"There are processes to follow and the current stage is the planning process. We share and fully appreciate people’s concern and frustration with the time it has taken to develop the scheme to date, and continue to do everything we can to support the Environment Agency to deliver this much-needed scheme.

On the concerns that have been raised about the project, Coun Scullion said: “We understand that a scheme of this scale would unavoidably cause temporary disruption, but will work with the Environment Agency to minimise this and ensure businesses are supported, and where necessary, compensated appropriately for any loss in trade.

"We also have to weigh any disruption against the significant, ongoing flood risk that we face. We live climate change here in Calderdale – flooding is inevitable – so we have to do everything we can, working with partners, to mitigate that risk and create a flood-resilient future.

"We need to protect local people, businesses and infrastructure, and make sure our distinctive towns, such as Hebden Bridge, continue to thrive. Flood Alleviation Schemes aren’t the only way to do this – they’re one part of a whole range of methods, including natural flood management.”

Scott Borrows, who owns Totally Screwed in Hebden Bridge, believes the scheme will "devastate" the town.

"We don't think it's the right approach and we think a more holistic approach is needed," he said.

"I lived through the Mytholmroyd works and it was a nightmare trying to run a business.

"I fear for so many people in Hebden Bridge.

"It's going to drastically change the look of the town, on Bridge Gate especially.

"They keep telling us that dredging is bad ecologically, but not as bad as pile-driving and building walls with cement, and the damage that does ecologically.

"Not just marine life, but bird life.

"The aesthetics of it, the heritage of the town.

"Businesses in the town are on the knife-edge anyway. If they lose 20 per cent of revenue, it will bust a lot of them.

"It will cost jobs. I think you're going to see a lot of redundancies and a lot of places going under."

Scott says there is a strong feeling in the town opposing the scheme and feels the views of those against it have been brushed aside.

"It just seems to be 'this is how we're doing it'," he said.

"Because they've put £6m into these consultations, they're not willing to walk away and restart.

"Why can't they just stop now and have a re-think?

"You can't just go putting concrete walls up in a place like Hebden Bridge, with all its known for.

"And it's so back-dated. You look at places like Holland and Germany and what they do for their flood defences, they have hidden defences that come out of the floor."

Scott added: "People that are crying no to this are people who've been flooded several times.

"In November 2024, I was clearing the road of snow because the drains were all blocked up and the water was filling up on Market Street.

"There's nothing being done about that. It doesn't include surface water, it doesn't include drainage.

"We're going to have to bear the brunt of it, with everybody else.

"We won't get anything out of it on Market Street, it's still going to flood."

Jim Leach, of Wood and Wire in Hebden Bridge, doesn't feel any better alternatives to the scheme have been suggested.

He said: "A lot of the objections to the proposed flood defences, a lot of these people might have only opened their businesses in the last few years.

"There's not actually a lot of businesses here now, who were here then.

"I don't think people really grasp how bad it is and how much it does affect people.

"I think there's a certain faction that are politicising it, but above all else, no-one can suggest an alternative.

"They might be objecting to it aesthetically and saying there's a better solution, but a team of highly-qualified civil engineers have spent a long time coming up with what they've come up with, and you have to put some faith in these people.

"Some people might say why don't we dredge the rivers, but have you any idea how much you'd have to dig out to absorb that amount of water that flood defences would prevent?

"Whilst people come out with objections and focus on the negatives, nobody's suggesting any viable alternatives to it."

Josh Fenton-Glynn, Calder Valley MP, said: "I think, ultimately, the majority of people I speak to want to feel safe from flooding.

"While there's always going to be questions over the details and planning, ultimately, we want our community to be safe.

"We don't want a risk to life again, and that's why getting this scheme right is really important."

On the frustration some residents have aired about why it has taken so long for the scheme to come to fruition, Josh said: "I share some of that frustration, absolutely.

"I would say though that it's not worth rushing into doing the wrong scheme and they have spent ten years consulting on it for that reason, because they needed to get it right.

"Hebden Bridge is a difficult place to put flood resilience into because it's got heritage assets, it's quite a tight town, so everything you're building, you have to be quite careful with both in terms of what it looks like and whether it will have the impact you want.

"It's not easy, so spending greater time making sure you get it right is definitely worth doing."

Josh added: "People always have concerns, and I understand why people have concerns.

"I think people who have lived through the floods feel a bit more acutely the need for this scheme.

"One of the things I'll be holding the Environment Agency to account on is making sure that they support businesses through this process, whether that's compensation or other support, so that our town remains a place people want to come and visit.

"And I do believe Hebden Bridge will still be that amazing place throughout this, and after the process as well."

Despite the disruption, Josh believes the town will be better protected from future floods by the work.

"It will mitigate it, it will make people feel safer and ultimately, a lot of the things which would have led to very severe floods, will lead to either less severe floods or no floods at all," he said.

"That's what we can achieve if we get this scheme right and deliver it, and make sure it's done in a way that's sympathetic to the town."