FLOOD mitigation measures, including erecting a removable barrier across a busy city centre street, are being proposed in York.

The Environment Agency has applied for planning approval from City of York Council to undertake the work within St George's Field Car Park and Tower Street.

The move follows extensive flooding in York in December 2015 and central government then allocating £45M to reduce the risk of flooding in the city centre and increasing protection to 2,000 properties.

This led to a 5-year plan, published in December 2016, to provide new and improved flood defences along the Rivers Ouse and Foss within the City of York.

The city was divided into 19 ‘flood cells,’ with this particular scheme benefitting 627 properties within its cell.

The proposals, the application continues, are close to each other and on land where the River Ouse meets the River Foss.

The first site is within St George’s Field Car Park, by Skeldergate Bridge. The second site is 50m to the north, spanning Tower Street.

The proposed works at St George’s Field Car Park comprise raising and strengthening the pre-existing walls attached to the Castle Mills Pumping Station. After a wall north of the pumping station is demolished, a new wall would tie in to the listed Skeldergate Bridge and the abutment walls at Skeldergate Bridge would be strengthened.

In Tower Street, strengthening the existing abutment walls on Skeldergate Bridge would also permit ‘a framework’ to be erected on each side of the road.

Planning documents said: “This is to allow the deployment of a demountable flood relief barrier across Tower Street when necessary. This is to prevent water from the Ouse flowing across Tower Street and entering the Foss Basin.

“This has historically been done by constructing a temporary sandbag wall across the road between Tower Gardens and the Courthouse building. The proposal would provide a more formal, robust and higher level of flood protection.

“The demountable flood defences will extend across Tower Street from the Skeldergate Bridge abutment walls to the embankment leading up to the Grade I Listed Crown Court.”

The planning application said the site areas are in flood zone 3, the highest level of risk. The completed works would help reduce flood levels and flood frequency helping protect hundreds of properties. It would also not increase flood risk elsewhere.

It concluded the application supported a wider scheme to provide important flood allevation works in York, as required by local and national planning policies.. There would also be no significant harm to wildlife, traffic safety or congestion.

“Overall, the proposal is a well-designed, necessary and sustainable development that accords with local and national planning policy and will bring substantial public benefit to the City of York,” the application added.