More than 1,000 businesses and 33,000 jobs in and around Leeds will be protected from flooding of the River Aire thanks to completion of a £200m project featuring pioneering technology.
It offers a one-in-200-year level of protection against extreme flooding along the River Aire, as experienced following Storm Eva at Christmas 2015 which caused up to £37million in direct costs of damage in Leeds and more than £500m in recovery costs to the wider region.
Completion of the scheme was marked today with a celebration event at a new flood storage area by the riverside near Calverley in Leeds hosted by the Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor James Lewis joined by representatives of project partners the Environment Agency, BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald, along with technical advisors AECOM, Bradford Council and other key stakeholders.
Stretching from Apperley Bridge to the source of the River Aire at Malham about 40 miles upstream from Leeds, the range of measures includes the planting of around 750,000 trees and soil and land management measures across 1,700 football fields’ worth of land in the upper Aire catchment. This work, managed by the Environment Agency in partnership with Leeds City Council, White Rose Forest and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, will capture and slow the flow of water down the river and aims to reduce peak flows by up to five per cent, further enhancing the overall effectiveness of the flood scheme and allowing it to adapt to the impacts of climate change through to 2069.
Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor James Lewis said: “This is a very important and proud day for our city as the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme can now help protect thousands of homes, communities, businesses and jobs across Leeds and beyond from the increasing threat posed by flooding and climate change. We all remember the devastation and misery caused by Storm Eva and recent extreme weather events, and the confidence this scheme offers will be immeasurable in our city for decades to come.
“This has been a mammoth project, one of the biggest ever undertaken in Leeds in terms of its importance, scale and ambition, and everyone involved in it can rightly be proud of the part they have played, especially all those who campaigned and worked so hard to ensure it would be completed in full as quickly as possible. As a city we say thank you to everyone who has helped make this scheme a reality, for the benefit of all those who live and work in Leeds and beyond.”
John Wilkinson, Chief Operating Officer, BAM UK & Ireland, and Richard Risdon, Mott MacDonald UK & Europe MD said: “The BMMJV is proud to be part of this major engineering project that has been led by Leeds City Council and the Environment Agency to use innovative engineering solutions in combination with natural flood management. The combination of solutions delivered is the result of the partnership approach taken by everyone involved, to maximise the benefits to the city, while minimising the carbon and visual impact.
“The impact of Leeds Flood Alleviation scheme extends far beyond our involvement over the last ten years. This enhanced flood protection provides climate resilient flood protection for the city, and helps further unlock Leeds’s immense regeneration potential in the years ahead.”
