Works confirmed for Leeds flood prevention programme in deal costing £76m

Flood prevention works seek to stop scenes like this from Christmas 2015 from happening again.

Leeds City Council has agreed a contract worth £75.98m to carry out the first step of the two-step approach to the next phase of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme.

This follows planning approval, which was granted earlier this month, and it is likely that work will start on site before the end of the year for the range of works along an eight kilometre stretch of the River Aire, including the Kirkstall Corridor and upstream which were badly hit by the Christmas floods in 2015.

Focusing on three key areas - Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills, Kirkstall Abbey and Kirkstall Meadows the works will include new protective walls, a new higher bridge to improve water flow and two new control structures on the goit which can close when the river levels become too high at Leeds Industrial Museum; a new structure will be built at Kirkstall Abbey in front of Kirkabbey Sluice Gates to limit the amount of water during high river levels going down the goit channel. The structure will also be a walkway that could open up new views; and the proposal at Kirkstall Meadows is to transform 2.4 hectares into a wetland habitat and also feature kingfisher banks, otter holts and wetland scrapes for fish. A new flood embankment will reduce flood risk to the adjacent railway line.

This work will be supported by a flagship Natural Flood Management programme delivered by the Environment Agency and is being carried out by contractor BMMjv, a joint venture between BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald.

Leader of Leeds City Council, Coun Judith Blake said: "This is a hugely important milestone for Leeds, as it commits us to getting this vital work done and hopefully underlines our commitment to doing everything to can to make our residents and businesses safe from the risk of flooding as soon as possible.

"We look forward to seeing work starting later this year, and we continue to explore every option in order to get the whole scheme completed in full as that is absolutely essential for the future of our city and all the communities who remain vulnerable to the risk of flooding."

This first step of work can proceed, using funding already in place from the government, Leeds City Council and other stakeholders, to offer a one-in-100-year level of protection against the risk of flooding.

Talks are continuing over securing the additional funding needed to complete the £112.1m phase two of the scheme in full, with a second step of works to follow to lift the whole scheme up to a one-in-200-year level of protection.