Campaigners against £81 million Hebden Bridge proposals plan protest

Opponents of the approved proposals for £81 million worth of flooding alleviation work in Hebden Bridge are hosting an event protesting the plans.

The Environment Agency last month received planning permission to undertake the scheme, which it estimates will take around four years to complete.

Objectors say they are not protesting against improvements to alleviate flooding but claim the EA’s approved proposals will “kill tourism” on which many livelihoods depend and are lobbying for an alternative.

Organised by Antonia Stirling and the Hebden On The Move Facebook page, the protest will take place at the Wavy Steps alongside Hebden Water, which runs through Hebden Bridge Town Centre, from 9am to 11am on Saturday, April 11.

The organisers say: “This is not a protest against improvements to our rivers and moorlands to alleviate the risk of flooding, but it is a protest against the destruction of our lovely town centre and the devastation the proposed works will create in Hebden Bridge over the next five years plus.

“The closure of businesses and loss of jobs is real and so is the changing face of the town centre.

“We know improvements can be made to decrease the risk of another Boxing Day 2015 flood but there are alternative ways to do this.

“The disruption under the current plans will kill tourism and make living in this town unbearable for many.

“What we need is a discussion about the alternative ways to manage the moorlands and rivers and a new plan put in place,” say the campaigners.

Among their concerns raised in the Calderdale Council Planning Committee meeting are potential impacts on heritage features, on businesses, loss of parking, and loss of a large chunk of Calder Holmes Park while work is carried out, used as a compound for vehicles and machinery.

But the EA and supporters of the scheme say it represents the only chance for Hebden Bridge, severely flooded a number of times in the last quarter century, to get better protection.

The EA has said it is still looking for an alternative site to use as a compound.

Programme manager for EA Calderdale projects, David Morrison, said Hebden Bridge was one of the most highly-affected flood areas in the country.

“The proposed scheme provides the first and only opportunity for Hebden Bridge to receive a co-ordinated, modern, engineered level of protection, designed specifically for the complex catchment,” he told the planning meeting.

Ward councillor Jonathan Timbers (Lab) spoke in favour of the scheme at the meeting and has separately since said the EA has work to do in clarifying compensation processes for business, among other things.

But, he said at the Planning Committee, about the floods: “There are no alternative schemes – it’s this scheme or trust to our prayers.”