Opportunity for residents and business to find out more about plans to reduce flood risk in Otley

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY AND LEEDS CITY COUNCIL

Otley residents and businesses are being invited to come along and meet the team at a drop-in event on Tuesday 17 October.

Visitors to the drop in will have an opportunity to meet representatives from Leeds City Council, Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water and WSP (consultants undertaking survey and investigation work). It will also be a chance to find out more about plans to reduce the risk of flooding in the historic market town and provide feedback, which the team hopes to use in the early stages of the programme to develop the Otley Flood Alleviation Scheme.

The drop in will be held at:

The Core Otley, Unit 11 Orchard Gate, Otley LS21 3NX

on Tuesday 17 October between 4–7pm

The town suffered flooding on three occasions between November and December 2015, which saw 74 properties affected. In the Autumn Statement 2016, Government announced £2 million to invest in a scheme to reduce the risk of flooding to homes and businesses.

The scheme is being led by Leeds City Council working closely with the Environment Agency.

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said: “We are firmly committed to taking a whole catchment and citywide approach to flood prevention in Leeds, which is why the plans for the Otley Flood Alleviation Scheme are so important to help provide confidence and reassurance to our communities who currently live in areas of flood risk. We would encourage as many people as possible to attend the drop-in session to find out more and give us their views, as local people have a key role to play in helping us to get this right.”

John Woods, flood risk management advisor at the Environment Agency, said: “We’re committed to keeping the people of Otley updated on progress around the development of a flood alleviation scheme for Otley. The drop-in event not only serves as a way for residents to meet the team, but also as a means for us to gather their feedback to help us develop the best possible scheme for the town.”

Work to pull together data to better understand the potential paths of flood water as well as collating historic and recent flood information began earlier this year. The information from these investigations, carried out by consultants, WSP, will be used to update an existing digital model of the River Wharfe which can then help form potential options for a scheme.

The Otley Flood Alleviation Scheme is one of several schemes that is adopting a catchment-wide approach. This means the entire River Wharfe catchment area will be considered to help reduce flood risk. This approach looks at a combination of natural processes and engineered options to help slow the flow and catch water further up the catchment so that flood peaks are reduced further downstream.

ENDS

For Environment Agency media enquiries please call the Yorkshire press office on

0800 9179243

Normal office hours are 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday This number can be used out of hours for urgent enquiries only

Email us: Alexandra.wales@environment-agency.gov.uk

Melinda.fewster@environment-agency.gov.uk

For Leeds City Council media enquiries please contact:

Roger Boyde,

Leeds City Council communications,

Email: roger.boyde@leeds.gov.uk

Tel: 0113 378 9164