Owners of the 120 flats at Victoria Quays, Leeds, spent around £100,000 repairing the lagoon around seven years ago and are outraged by suggestions that as part of the plans to stop the city flooding a wall could be built through the middle of it.

The Environment Agency has also proposed building walls – some as high as 4m – along parts of the River Aire in a bid to protect thousands of homes and businesses from flooding.

Speaking on behalf of the residents' committee, Polly Browne, director of Victoria Quays Management Services, said: "Where the high walls are to be erected along the riverside, the view of the river from the city will be lost.

"The riverside areas are a great visitor attraction, as well as being the main focus for many city-centre flats, and a number of bars and restaurants. The adverse impact on the city, with access to, and views over the river obliterated, would be horrendous."

Other objections included concerns over emergency access to the river; potential structural problems from using buildings as flood defences; and safety issues of screening off sections of walkway. Victoria Quays was built in the 1980s by Barratt on the site of the Aire and Calder Navigation dock and warehouses. The dock was blocked off, creating a lagoon, and when it sprung a leak residents spent more than £100,000 having it fixed.

Miss Browne said the Environment Agency had suggested splitting it, so half would become part of the river – or building a flood wall at the end of it and creating a public footpath through the development.
The 46-year-old said the waterside location and view was a major reason most people had bought their homes.

She said the suggested wall through the development would separate the river from the gardens and many of the flats and the changes would mean residents lost valued amenities. The co-director of Red Snapper Designs, Leeds, is so upset by the proposals she has written to the Environment Agency and organisations including Leeds City Council and Leeds Civic Trust, stating her complaints.

Leeds has no formal flood defences and more than 3,000 properties are at risk of flooding. It has been estimated a major flood could cause up to £500m in damage.

The Environment Agency is proposing a range of measures along a 12-mile stretch of the River Aire, from Newlay Bridge at Horsforth to Woodlesford, costing between £75m and £100m.

The council wants a scheme with upstream storage facilities that would enable city-centre flood defences to be lowered. But that could drive the cost up to £175m.

Environment Agency development manager Martin Slater said: "The Leeds scheme is one of the largest of its kind in the country and proposals being discussed at this stage are just that, proposals, and there is much work yet to be done.

"We will be working closely with people directly affected by the proposals to ensure that their views are taken into account."