£8.3M Flood Defense Scheme Shields Hull Homes and Businesses

In August 2025, a £8.3 million flood defense scheme was completed in the Derringham area of Hull, creating a network of ponds to protect homes and businesses from flooding. The project, known as "aquagreens," mimics natural drainage by using the ponds to store water during times of heavy rainfall.

Planning for the work began in the aftermath of the devastating 2007 floods in Hull, where 10,000 properties were damaged, and further flooding in 2013. Councilor Charles Quinn, the portfolio holder for the environment at Hull City Council, states that the aquagreens "not only enhance biodiversity and community green spaces but they protect some very at-risk properties from flooding."

Hull is considered the second most "at-risk" area for flooding in the country after London. Emma Brown, the general manager of the Living with Water project, a partnership between various local authorities and organizations, says that £23 million has been spent on flood resilience work across Hull and the East Riding in the past five years, with more planned for the next five years.

The aquagreens in Derringham are designed to capture water directed down nearby alleyways, or "ten foots" as they are known locally, and divert it away from homes and businesses. Other flood defense schemes in Hull have incorporated permeable road surfaces and additional tree and bush planting to help slow the flow of water into the sewerage network.