Land for a major flood defence scheme in west Hull will be acquired under compulsory purchase powers, if agreement cannot be reached with landowners.
The £14.4m Willerby and Derringham Flood Alleviation Scheme (WaDFAS) will cut the risk for 8,000 homes and 300 businesses in the wake of the 2007 floods.
The green light has been given for a compulsory purchase order to be drawn up for four sites in the Willerby area, where a series of lagoons are planned to increase flood storage capacity.
East Riding Council's cabinet agreed to the move for areas of land at Rawdales Farm, Robson's Cottage, Albion Mills and Carr Lane.
Nigel Leighton, director of environment and neighbourhood services, told councillors: "Back in 2007 we had significant flooding, with about 14,000 properties and businesses affected in the city and the East Riding.
"Since then, we have been working very closely with Hull City Council to look at how we can develop ways to reduce flood events in the area overall.
"The WaDFAS will reduce the risk for 8,000 properties and businesses in the Willerby and Derringham area."
The Great Gutter Valley area drains the central part of Haltemprice and Willerby, where it is proposed to construct four lagoons.
Mr Leighton said: "In extreme events, the watercourse can become overloaded and cause flooding within Willerby and the Derringham area of Hull, causing significant overland flows to discharge eastwards into Hull, rather than remaining within the channel and flowing south to the Humber.
"The WaDFAS has been designed to address this issue."
The four areas of land required for the lagoons cover more than 30,000 hectares in total – the equivalent of about 16 football pitches.
Mr Leighton said: "Ideally, we would like to negotiate purchase through negotiation but failing that we would like to move forward with a compulsory purchase order to obtain the land for the scheme."
The council aims to serve the compulsory purchase order next month.
The cabinet was advised objections are expected from some landowners, which could see a public inquiry held next year before the scheme can go ahead.
Planning permission was granted earlier this year for the scheme, which is earmarked for construction in 2015.
Funding has been approved by the Environment Agency, with £6.6m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Mr Leighton said: "The current ERDF programme requires that construction be substantially completed by June 2015 in order that funds can be defrayed prior to the close of the programme.
"As such, the project programme, in order to qualify for the ERDF funding, relies upon certainty of land acquisitions to be able to construct the works within this funding deadline."
