BAM completes Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme protecting thousands of homes and businesses from extreme flood risk

Partners BAM and Mott MacDonald (BMMJV) have completed the groundbreaking Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme (FAS) that aims to protect the City against a repeat of extreme flooding such as Boxing Day 2015.

After more than a decade of work and an investment of £200 million, the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme will help to protect more than 4,000 homes and over a thousand businesses along the River Aire catchment in Leeds. It will also help protect more than 33,000 jobs in Leeds alone.

Led by Leeds City Council in partnership with the Environment Agency, the scheme offers a one-in-200-year level of protection plus climate change allowance against extreme flooding along the River Aire.

The completion of the scheme comes nine years on from the devastating flooding caused by Storm Eva during Christmas 2015, which caused an estimated £36.8 million in direct costs of damage in Leeds and more than £500million in recovery costs to the wider region.

The Leeds FAS has been carried out in two phases. The first phase, completed in 2017, saw the creation of new moveable weir gates across the river at Crown Point and Knostrop together with 4.5km of new flood walls and embankments.

The second phase, covering the city centre and upstream, has been much larger in scope. Construction began in 2019, with engineering and infrastructure works carried out along 14 further kilometres of the river from Leeds City Station upstream along the A65 Kirkstall Road corridor to Apperley Bridge.

The scheme uses the natural environment to help protect against flooding, in one of the largest and most innovative natural flood management projects seen anywhere in the UK.

The range of measures includes:

• Planting of 750,000 trees and soil and land management measures across 1,700 football fields’ worth of land (1,240 ha) in the upper Aire catchment.
• The creation of vast new areas of habitat for wildlife, improved water quality and farmland as well as restoring previous habitats.
• The installation of fish and eel passes at the moveable weirs in the city centre contributing to otters and salmon being seen in parts of the river for the first time in over 200 years.
• The creation of a 2.4-hectare wetland habitat on Kirkstall Meadows.
• The planting of 90,000 trees and shrubs throughout the Leeds area.

A further key economic benefit of the scheme includes bringing land previously unsuitable for development due to flood risk back into potential use, opening up significant areas of land to support the growth of the city with estimated regeneration benefits of £774 million over ten years and potentially more than 3,000 new jobs.

The protection offered by the scheme also offers increased resilience for key infrastructure in Leeds including power supplies, communications networks, and key travel routes.

To mark the completion of construction of the scheme the Leader of Leeds City Council, Councillor James Lewis was joined by project partners and key stakeholders including the Environment Agency, BAM and Mott MacDonald, along with technical advisors AECOM, Bradford Council to celebrate the occasion at a recent event.

John Wilkinson, Chief Operating Officer, BAM UK and Ireland said: ‘Considering recent flood events globally, and the far-reaching impact of climate change, it’s a timely and poignant reminder that Leeds flood defences now protect over 4,000 residential properties and 1,000 businesses. The impact of the Leeds Flood Alleviation schemes will extend far beyond our involvement and together with our JV partner, Mott MacDonald, we’re honoured to have been part of the team delivering this critical work – in and around Leeds City centre – over the last ten years. We’re proud to be part of a legacy offering security, confidence and reassurance that Leeds will remain protected from the catastrophic impact of future flood incidents.’

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor James Lewis said: ‘This is a very important and proud day for our city as the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme can now help protect thousands of homes, communities, businesses and jobs across Leeds and beyond from the increasing threat posed by flooding and climate change.  We all remember the devastation and misery caused by Storm Eva and recent extreme weather events, and the confidence this scheme offers will be immeasurable in our city for decades to come. This has been a mammoth project, one of the biggest ever undertaken in Leeds in terms of its importance, scale and ambition, and everyone involved in it can rightly be proud of the part they have played, especially all those who campaigned and worked so hard to ensure it would be completed in full as quickly as possible. As a city we say thank you to everyone who has helped make this scheme a reality, for the benefit of all those who live and work in Leeds and beyond.’

Mike Dugher, Yorkshire Area Director for the Environment Agency said: ‘Communities across Yorkshire have repeatedly experienced the devastating effects flooding has on lives and livelihoods. The Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme exemplifies the power of partnership in achieving remarkable outcomes, integrating civil engineering works with natural flood risk management in the upper catchments, significantly reducing flood risk to Leeds city centre and the surrounding areas. We continue to work hard to increase flood resilience across Yorkshire, however, as winter approaches, always encourage people to be prepared, know their flood risk and sign up to our free flood warning service to give yourself valuable time when flooding is predicted.’

Richard Risdon, Mott MacDonald UK & Europe Managing Director said: ‘The BMMJV is proud to be part of this major engineering project that has been led by Leeds City Council and the Environment Agency to use innovative engineering solutions in combination with natural flood management. The combination of solutions delivered is the result of the partnership approach taken by everyone involved, to maximise the benefits to the city, while minimising the carbon and visual impact. The impact of Leeds Flood Alleviation scheme extends far beyond our involvement over the last ten years. This enhanced flood protection provides climate resilient flood protection for the city, and helps further unlock Leeds’s immense regeneration potential in the years ahead.’