Flood threat has 'devastating' impact, say traders

A gallery and shop owner has said the threat of flooding has had a "devastating" impact on trade in what should be her busiest time of year.

Alison Bartram, who runs Heart Gallery on Market Street in Hebden Bridge, closed early on Saturday after the town's flood siren sounded, and worked into the evening to move her stock of artwork, jewellery and ceramics out of harm's way.

Storm Bert brought heavy snow in the morning, but as it turned to rain the snow thawed and the River Calder level rose.

Ms Bartram said she was lucky the shop did not flood, but tourists stayed away due to warnings that the town was at risk.

Josh Fenton-Glynn, Labour MP for the Calder Valley, said: "It is a couple of weeks before Christmas and a time when our retail businesses are trying to do their most profit and this really hits them."

Flood sirens sounded around Calderdale on Saturday, and river levels around Todmorden exceeded 7.9ft (2.4m).

This was just 1ft (34cm) short of levels reached during the Boxing Day floods of 2015.

Ms Bartram said: "All the businesses dread days like this, and the alarm going, the river rising.

"But we do all have flood plans and in Heart Gallery we have our SOS - Save Our Stock - which is a shelf really high up.

"We have to get all our original artwork, our prints, textiles, ceramics, our jewellery, onto that shelf and as you can imagine that takes a long time.

"As much as we can get onto that flood shelf goes up on that shelf. We have big ladders, we have plastic boxes, it was all hands on deck."

The gallery owner said she was at the site until about 21:00 GMT, then back in at 07:00 GMT on Sunday to get ready for opening.

She said: "We were in at 7am trying to get everything down from the shelves for people to come in again but they didn’t come, because on the news, Hebden Bridge had been flooded.

"It had a huge impact not just on the shops and the pubs, but in the restaurants and the cafes, they all reported dips in trade and that is not what we needed right now."

Fenton-Glynn said people had been waiting too long for something to be done about the flood threat in the area.

"It is almost a decade since the 2015 flood and we are still waiting for a flood scheme in Hebden Bridge.

"We have two communities awaiting that, and every time we get heavy rain they are hugely anxious and they are understandably getting frustrated."

The Calderdale Flood Recovery and Resilience Programme was set up in 2012, headed by Calderdale Council working with the Environment Agency, Canal and River Trust and local community groups.

The group has secured £133m to spend on strengthening defences and natural flood management.

Last year, West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) announced communities in West Yorkshire would benefit from £22m of funding to help protect them against future flooding.

Projects include:

• A £7m "natural" flood scheme to slow the flow of water.
• A £5m scheme to help businesses implement new sustainability plans that guard against rising temperatures and water levels.
• A £10m infrastructure scheme involving physical protections, as part of a wider programme which aims to better protect more than 2,200 businesses, 2,500 homes and vital infrastructure such as railways and roads.

WYCA, the Environment Agency and Calderdale Council have been approached for comment.

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