Rowntree Park in York set to reopen after flooding

As The Press reported last month, Rowntree Park in South Bank has been closed for the past three months.

The Friends of Rowntree Park say the provisional date for the park reopening is Monday (March 11) after it has been closed since mid December.

Read next:

• Urgent appeal for missing York girl
• Knife crime campaigner drops in at York school
• York slip road set to close for more than a month

A spokesman said: "Although now cleared of flood water, the ground is saturated and surfaces slippy. 

"The council will make the call when the park will reopen and are hoping it's dried out enough by next Monday. 

"We have some volunteer clean up sessions scheduled."

Rowntree Park is prone to flood

In 2023, the park was closed 20 per cent of the year due to the risk of flooding.

It usually closes when the Viking recorder on the River Ouse reaches 3.10 metres. This level used to be higher, but the flood wall in the beck has cracks in it and is at risk of collapsing, the friends said.

When the river is high, the beck in the park backs up as it is joined to the River Ouse. The lakes in the park are also linked to the beck, so when the beck backs up it causes the lakes to overflow.

A Friends of Rowntree Park spokesperson added: "Over the last couple of years there have been a number of issues with the inbuilt system including the pump failing to work (City of York Council did replace it last year), and at times the valves not being released manually when they should be.

"The issues have at times led the park to be closed longer than it should be if all systems were in place.

"Since mid December, the river has hit high levels a number of times and therefore even when the council start to manually pump, anything achieved has been set back.

"The current situation is that the lakes are nearly back to normal, and we are awaiting an update from the council regarding the current situation. 

"Once the flood water is cleared, there will be a lot of tidying and repairs to do."

The park is seeking volunteers and organisations to help with repairs.

The friends have issued an appeal for volunteers to help with post flood clear up, which can be found online at: www.rowntreepark.org.uk/volunteer.

The Friends of Rowntree Park has a general meeting that the public are welcome to attend on Tuesday, March 12, from 7pm until 8.30pm at the York Explore café in the park.

The meeting will discuss the issue of flooding and the increasing problems the charity is facing including closures and climate change.