PROPOSED £300,000 work to redirect a Low Valley dike could help protect the area from flooding - but doubt has been cast as to whether it would have any effect.
The area is surrounded by the River Dove and River Dearne, with plans to redirect Bulling Dike and create two new wetlands in the area, which was badly affected in the floods of 2007, submitted to Barnsley Council by the Garganey Trust.
But Dean Clark, who lives on Station Road in Low Valley and was a member of the now-defunct Low Valley Flood Defence Team, said he thinks the larger site is higher than the river level and disputes how effective they would be in preventing further flooding.
The scheme would see nine hectares of land to the south of Ings Lane transformed into Wings Across The Ings (WATI), a reed bed and wet grassland habitat, with a culvert created to direct water to where it is needed to maintain the habitat. A ‘bund’ wall would also be created to protect the nearby Ings Lane caravan site from flooding.
The site would not be publicly accessible and would be owned and managed by the trust.
The second site, Doveside, is slightly further north and water levels on the site would be raised, but bunds and drains to the western and eastern boundaries would ensure water levels outside the site are not raised.
Doveside would remain under the ownership of Barnsley Council but would be managed by the trust. Public access would also be restricted.
Dean said: “The field they are on about on the Ings is actually about 15ft higher than the river. How they plan to get the water to run uphill I do not know.
“When the river is in flood it is approximately 4-500 metres away from the proposed wetlands anyway. It will not do us any favours. It all seems to be about wildlife and the environment but at the end of the day, ducks don’t pay poll tax.”
Nathan Smith is a member of the Smith family of gypsies, who live in a site at the end of Ings Lane.
Nathan, 50, said: “We have ponds and the rivers on all sides down there, like a little island.
“We are outgrowing that area as a famiy and if it is going to flood and you are given an hour or two hours warning, it is difficult to get off in a rush.
“In 2007 everyone was rushing to get off and they were getting stuck.
“It might give the Ings a better chance from flooding because the dike does have a few bad bends. But it really depends what overflows.”
The council said if the scheme receives planning permission, the works would be due to start by early spring next year and take about three months.
Coun Roy Miller said: “The aim of the scheme is to carry out flood mitigation and habitat creation works in Wombwell Ings. The scheme creates flood storage areas and a new wetland habitat adjacent to Bulling Dike and the River Dove.
“This will be created by re-aligning Bulling Dike away from the caravan park and building a levee.”
