New plans have been unveiled detailing how the next £112 million phase of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme will look.

Initial sketches show early examples of what the project could potentially look like, following the completion of the £50m first phase.

The images produced by Leeds City Council working with the Environment Agency and contractor BMM jV were presented as part of a pre-application presentation at a planning meeting on Thursday, which outlined proposals for the second phase.

Plans include planting of up to two million new trees, which would more than double existing canopy coverage along the River Aire, as part of a strong focus on using Natural Flood Management (NFM) to enhance flood prevention. New infrastructure will also be installed in the forms of flood defence walls and embankments, as well as flood storage sites in areas such as Calverley, where moveable weir technology of phase one will be repeated to allow water to collect and then be released slowly back into the river in a controlled way.


Further enhancements to the scheme, which include new bridges and footpath improvements, will be handled in a separate planning application.

Council Leader Judith Blake said: "We are pleased to bring forward these proposals, which are the result of extensive work carried out to identify the level of protection we need, as requested by the government following the devastation caused by the impact of Storm Eva.

"Working with the Environment Agency and partners, what we are putting forward is a modern catchment-wide approach to flood prevention utilising a range of measures including a strong focus on tree planting and natural measures to provide the reassurance our communities and businesses need and deserve.

"The images are early indicative sketches at this stage, but give a flavour as to how it could look. This scheme being supported and approved by the government as quickly as possible is essential so we can get on and do the work we need to get done."

Work will now continue on the plans with a formal planning application expected to be submitted later this summer. If approved by the government, work on phase two is scheduled to begin mid-2019.

(LM)