Call to fix Hull’s ‘breaking’ and ageing water system after…

Councillors in Hull have called for the city's water system to be improved urgently and for its owner to be run for public benefit following several road closures caused by burst pipes. Hull City Council is set to demand that Yorkshire Water invest in ageing infrastructure after Beverley Road, Hedon Road, Rawling Way and others were recently closed for emergency pipe repairs. Liberal Democrat Cllr Alison Collinson said Hull's water system was breaking and needed maintenance urgently as broken pipes closing the city's roads caused traffic chaos. A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said they had put measures in place to stop multiple pipes bursting again, with £7.92m set to be spent on Hull's water network by 2025. It comes Cllr Collinson's motion on the issue, which was passed last week, noted Yorkshire Water was losing 283m litres a day because of the lack of maintenance for pipes. Read more:Sewage pumped into Holderness waterway 79 times with no 'quick fix' The motion also noted that the company made operating profits of £240m in the 2020-21 financial year while paying executives bonuses of £3m in 2022. However, Yorkshire Water chief executive Nicola Shaw has not taken a bonus this year and the company has reinvested profits in its operations in recent years. Cllr Collinson's motion called for the Government to change the law to turn water firms into public benefit companies so they would not be run merely for profit. The call follows a number of recent road closures in Hull – including two on Rawling Way – and growing concerns in recent years over companies discharging untreated waste into waterways. Rawling Way has had to close twice this year due to burst water mains (Image: Katie Pugh) Figures for 2022 sho
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