£3.2m flood defence scheme approved (From York Press)

Leeman Road flood defence scheme approved

8:24am Saturday 22nd September 2012 in News By Mark Stead, mark.stead@thepress.co.uk

HUNDREDS of homes in York are to get better protection against floods after plans for a £3.2 million defence scheme were given the go-ahead.

City of York Council has approved a project devised by the Environment Agency, designed to safeguard 393 properties in the Leeman Road area – which came close to being swamped by rising waters 12 years ago.

The Water End Flood Alleviation Scheme is aimed at protecting residents against a one-in-200-year flood and will involve building a new 300-metre flood wall along the Water End embankment and installing a demountable barrier across the entrance to Landing Lane. The Leeman Road bank will be raised and a 400-metre embankment created between the street and Cinder Lane, where two flood walls will also be put in place.

Work is due to begin before the end of the year, with the council providing £1 million, after the authority’s planning committed backed the proposals this week.

Committee member Coun Ann Reid said the scheme was “good news for York and certainly good news for the residents of the area”.

Coun Joe Riches said: “Any detriment to the environment is massively outweighed by offering protection to homes.”

The same meeting voted through plans for a £2 million county-standard athletics track and a closed road-racing cycle circuit as part of the York Sport Village project at the University of York ’s Heslington East campus.

The eight-lane track will be a new home for City of York Athletics Club, whose current Huntington Stadium base at Monks Cross is to be demolished to make way for a new community stadium for York City FC and York City Knights .

Councillors also approved proposals by Oakgate (Monks Cross) Ltd for the design of new John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Next stores at a £90 million shopping complex next to the site for the new stadium. The retail development - granted outline planning permission in May - will provide funds to allow the sporting venue to be built. Oakgate said the stores would create 1,000 jobs and provide a multi-million-pound annual boost to York’s economy.

Plans to use part of land designated as a village green to carry out junction improvements for a new Park&Ride site at Poppleton Bar were also rubber-stamped, as was a scheme for a 24-space children’s nursery next to Creepy Crawlies at Clifton Moor .