York: Environment Agency reveals work to protect city from flooding

Today (Tuesday, December 26) marks eight years since the city suffered the devastating 2015 Boxing Day floods.

Years on, the Environment Agency has revealed to The Press the work still to be done in the York Flood Alleviation Scheme.

The latest ongoing work aims to protect 625 homes.

Flooded Fishergate in December 2015 (Image: Maxine Gordon)

Of these, 135 are in Clifton and Rawcliffe and 490 are in the Strensall area.

Work in Clifton and Rawcliffe is due to be finished by December 2024, the spokesperson said.

Members of the Army and rescue teams make their way through floodwater in York city centre, after the River Ouse and the River Foss burst their banks (Image: PA)

It is being carried out in the second phase of the £21 million Clifton Ings Flood Alleviation scheme.

The work will also reduce the risk of flood water spilling onto the A19 Shipton Road – an important transport route into the city.

It will raise the height of the existing embankment, build a new pumping station for Blue Beck and includes habitat restoration for plants and wildlife.

Former environment secretary and PM Liz Truss on a visit to Tadcaster after the Boxing Day floods of 2015 (Image: Newsquest)

In the Strensall area, work to complete the Foss Storage Area is due to be completed in August 2024, the spokesperson said.

Work will see a new embankment built upstream of the river near Strensall designed to hold up to one million cubic metres during times of extreme rainfall.

Floods through York city centre in 2015 (Image: Lynne Kinder)

The plan is that, once downstream river levels recede the stored water will be released at a controlled rate, the spokesperson said.  

The creation of two ponds connected to the River Foss, together with improvements to the river channel, will result in new wetland habitats to support wildlife, they added.

Residents in the flood waters in Lower Darnborough St, York (Image: Frank Dwyer)

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency is awaiting planning approval for a project in Tower Street.

The spokesperson said the agency is “investigating options” on how to provide flood protection along Tower Street to prevent “exceptionally high” flood levels on the River Ouse bypassing the defences within St Georges Car Park and entering the Foss Basin which would pose increased flood risk in the lower Foss. 

This scheme will initially involve raising the wall between St George’s car park and the Foss Basin tying into Skeldergate Bridge.

The Environment Agency is also awaiting sign off on a project to protect 200 more properties in York from flooding by installing modifications on the buildings to lower the flood risk.

Read next:

• When Liz Truss came to North Yorkshire during 2015 floods
• York floods 2015: How the devastating floods unfolded and how York rallied superbly
• Boxing Day floods 2015: When York's centre became a river

The spokesperson said the agency has taken “extensive action” to protect homes and businesses from flooding since Boxing Day 2015.

“The completion of work to the Foss Barrier and other city centre flood defences mean we’ve better protected more than 2,000 homes and businesses in York,” they said.

“We’re investing £3 million in property flood protection, installing barriers, air brick covers, pumps and non-return valves to riverside properties so they can be more resilient to flooding, to help them get back up and running as quickly as possible.

“With a changing climate, we can never completely prevent flooding.”