Councillor visits £14m North Yorkshire water resource project

Councillor George Jabbour, who represents the Helmsley and Sinnington division, recently visited a £14m Yorkshire Water project in East Ness to increase the clean water supply in the surrounding area.  

Yorkshire Water began drilling test boreholes at the site in September as part of its long-term water resource management plan. East Ness is one of a number of prospective boreholes aimed at securing a sustainable water supply to meet Yorkshire’s growing customer demand.  

Boreholes are used to extract water from deep underground, where it is naturally filtered through soil and rock, requiring minimal treatment before it is safe to use.  

Councillor Jabbour, who saw contract partners Mott MacDonald Bentley drilling the first of two test boreholes on site, said: “Assuming the outcome of the borehole testing meets the required standards as hoped, this would be a major investment and its benefits would be seen not only by some of the communities that I represent, but also by other areas in North Yorkshire. 

“It was insightful to visit the site in East Ness and see the work that is being carried out on such critical exploration. 

“In addition to the installation of a new surface water network in Brawby, this is another example of the projects that Yorkshire Water is undertaking in the Helmsley and Sinnington division, which I represent on North Yorkshire Council. 

“As I mentioned before, I’ve had a constructive professional relationship with Yorkshire Water since my election a few years ago on a variety of matters that affect our parishes.  I look forward to continuing working with them to deliver for local residents.” 

Drilling of the second test borehole commenced earlier this month. 

Bringing the boreholes into supply would provide an additional five million litres of water a day to parts of the North York Moors covered by YO17, YO60, YO61, and YO62 postcodes. 

James Lock, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “This work is a really important part of our strategy for maintaining water supply in the long-term and for building resilience into our network. It was a pleasure to take Councillor Jabbour around the site to show him how the scheme is progressing and speak to him about our water resources plan.” 

This work is part of Yorkshire Water’s water resources management plan to help ensure there is sufficient water to meet Yorkshire’s customer demands in the future.   

The project is part of a £34m investment over the next five years to introduce new water resources and bring and additional 21 Ml/d (21 million litres per day) into service. As part of this, work recently started to test the viability of new boreholes at Brayton Barff in East Yorkshire.