Mytholmroyd - will it all again end in tears the next time it buckets down?

Former co-op worker Tony Shaw is a Unite Community member whose West Yorkshire home was flooded in February for the second time in five years. He believes that preventing any more repeats of these traumatic incidents means planting more trees, banning upland peat burning and a radical Green New Deal to tackle Climate Change.

Tony Shaw in his front room in Mytholmroyd -
photograph is copyright Mark Harvey of ID8 photography

Tony moved to Mytholmroyd, a large historic village of 4,000 people between Halifax and Hebden Bridge, three decades ago. His front street two-storey house, built originally in the 1760s, is yards from the River Calder which later meets Cragg Brook in the village centre, which has been flooded three times since 2010, around 400 yards downstream from Tony’s property. 

Designed to protect around 400 properties and costing around £32 million, part of a Yorkshire wide £475 million package aimed at protecting 66,000 properties, the construction of new flood defences at Mytholmroyd began after the 2015 floods. These destroyed many businesses that have been left uninsurable by previous flooding.  A new wider, road bridge has replaced the old one. This has facilitated new flood walls to be installed and for a widening of the river channels at key locations. 

Mytholmroyd has a flood record dating back to, at least, 1837. Few details were recorded unlike recent repeats that have by witnessed by millions on national television. Tony’s house, situated yards from his former workplace, has featured a few times.

“In 2015 the floods reached over a metre high in my house. Amazingly, the gas cooker survived but the white goods were ruined. I sat upstairs until the water drained away, making its way into the river and then on to the natural flood zone down at Brierley Fields around a mile and a half away,” said Tony, who, at one point was temporarily distracted from events outside when he heard on the radio that a woman whose property had been flooded was being emergency rescued as she was giving birth. He later found out  it this was taking place next door. Fortunately both mother and baby turned out fine. 

After the water had drained away Tony received around £6,000, £5,000 from Calderdale Council, to spend on future resilience measures. He also spent his own money on replacing carpets with a new stone floor, which has proven effective in 2020 as this time he has been able to sweep away the mud much more quickly than previously. Consumer units containing trip switches have been remounted high up the walls. 

A new front door cost £2000. Whether it is effective is yet to be proven as the water that entered his property came through the back door. A good friend of Tony’s, John Mooney, a retired UNISON member, who lives in the village centre and whose home has been flooded three times since 2010, believes, “Water just moves round defences to find an entry point. I think some resilience measures are more about being seen to do something rather than tackling the causes behind the flooding.” 

Since 2015, Mytholmroyd residents have endured lots of traffic and dust as the village has become a building site during the ongoing construction projects that have been developed organised by the Environment Agency and Calderdale Council with VBA, a joint venture of three companies, the main on site contractor. There has been criticism locally of those organisations who have held a series of open days for local people to discuss progress of the construction projects, which were due to be completed later this summer. 

The website EYE ON CALDERDALE contains information from seven organisations including the EA, Yorkshire Water, Calderdale Council, DEFRA states that the works won’t ‘totally eliminate the risk of flooding. December 2015 was a 1 in 200 year event…….the completed scheme for Mytholmroyd will substantially improve the level of protection for the village.’ 

“It is a fact that the defences currently in place failed. Will they do so again? Can they ever be made totally effective? An explanatory meeting has yet to take place and there appears to be no formal announcement on what went wrong,” explained John. 

“Human error is annoying but I am convinced that all flood defences can do is buy residents a bit more time when Mytholmroyd, or similar places, especially in the Calder Valley, are deluged by so much water so quickly. 

We were told after 2015 that there was a 2-fold strategy being put in place. Firstly, once the water got into the river the new works would mean it could make its way down to Brierley Fields more quickly. Secondly, there would be projects higher up the valley to slow the water down so the village was not overwhelmed with water. That requires more trees and stopping peat burning on the nearby moorlands,” explained Tony. 

Tony's front room three months after the February 2020 floods
Photograph is copyright Mark Harvey of ID8 photography

Britain has less tree cover than our European neighbours, around 9 per cent compared to an EU average of 35 per cent. 

The government announced in 2018 plans to create a Northern Forest, with up to 50 million trees stretching from Hull to Liverpool and taking in locations over the following 25 years such as the Calder Valley. Yet across England in 2018/19 just 1,420 hectares of trees were planted, half by the Woodland Trust charity. 

Meanwhile the HS2 high-speed rail link will see close to 100 ancient woodlands chopped down. Previous tree planting attempts such as the National Forest in the Midlands, where just half of its proposed 13,500 hectares have been planted since it was announced in 1995, have enjoyed mixed success. 

The Northern Forest is to cost £500 million and of which the Tories have promised just £5 million! Co-ordinated by the Woodland Trust and the Community Forest Trust the plan is to raise the other 99% by charitable donations. Much of the planned works will be undertaken by volunteers. Environmental campaigner and writer Roly Smith, believes, “two years on since 2018 there are still too many unanswered questions before the Northern Forest can be taken seriously.”

Shooting butts on the Walshaw Moor Estate
Copyright Mark Harvey of ID8 photography

Areas of burnt heather on Withen Height above Hebden Bridge
Copyright Mark Harvey of ID8 photography

Tony cannot understand why much more is not being done immediately to plant trees. “We know they help combat climate change by absorbing CO2, removing and storing the carbon whilst releasing oxygen back into the air. They slow down the run off of water into the earth below the tree and prevent soil erosion. This would slash water flow down from the hills above places such as Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd during major storms. I think residents here would feel a lot better if they were told that a lot more trees are guaranteed to be planted very shortly.”

What has been taking place over the winter on nearby hills is moorland peat burning. Walshaw Moor Estate is owned by local businessman Richard Bannister, who has received millions of pounds of public funds. These have allowed him to build up his grouse shooting business by regularly burning heather to create different habitats, a land management tool utilised by gamekeepers to increase grouse yields. Scorching the earth destroys the carbon-packed peaty soils. These soils according to Natural England “ reduce flood risk downstream through slowing hydrological pathways.” 

After Hebden Bridge was flooded in 2012 local residents concerned at being left with an £11 million clear-up bill and  seeing some businesses closed permanently formed Ban the Burn to campaign to stop the burning. Following the floods this year Ban the Burn members were promised a meeting with the then environment secretary Theresa Villiers  when she visited Mytholmroyd. Villiers ignored them. 

Since February it has been announced that three large northern England landowners - Yorkshire Water, United Utilities and the National Trust - have banned moorland burning on more than 30 land tracts. This is a major success for the campaign group Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors which has campaigned ceaselessly for such an approach to be adopted including linking up with Unite members at Yorkshire Water who have supported the group which is now keen to see environment minister, Zac Goldsmith, make good on his stated promise to outlaw the practice. 

“Both local MPs round here, one Tory and one Labour, should back any campaign that stops peat burning as I am sure grouse shooting landowners will hang on to their outdated sport for as long as possible,” said Tony who was disappointed that Labour lost the general election so badly last year. He was particularly keen to see the Green New Deal rolled out. 

“ The Green Party should be praised for putting Climate Change on the agenda but they don’t have the political strength to take it forward. For it to happen we needed a Labour Government. The Green New Deal has the potential to create thousands of better paid, rewarding jobs nationwide as part of an ambitious programme working towards decarbonisation in ten years time,“ said Tony who pointed out that It would have also meant substantial investment in many left behind communities.

Will they work next time?
Photo is copyright Mark Harvey of ID8 photography