York flooding: Build defences outside city, council says
- Published
Major flooding in York has become more frequent, according to the council
An "ambitious" land management programme upstream of York would offer better flood protection to the city.
The city council said York was one of the "worst affected areas" in the UK for flooding.
However, it said continuing to increase the height of existing defences was not an option.
It has agreed to develop a business case to enable it to access £5.8m in government funding to move forward with the project.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs funding would be used to work with landowners along the Swale, Nidd and Ure - the rivers which flow into the River Ouse north of York.
It would involve developing natural flood risk management measures, such as water storage areas, and exploring different farming techniques that could reduce the flow downstream.
The council's executive member for the environment, Paula Widdowson said the project would improve flood protection.
"It is an ambitious and innovative programme that has not previously been carried out on this scale," she said.
The council said increasing the height of existing defences was not an option
She said the increasing impact of climate change meant flooding on the scale seen in December 2015 would become more frequent.
"York is one of the worst affected areas in the UK for flooding and as such it's something that residents and communities of York have to regularly endure," she said.
"The flood defences cannot continue to be increased in height without walling our city in."
The council's deputy leader, Andy D'Agorne, said the proposals were: "Precisely the sort of measures that we've been saying we need to be looking at longer-term rather than just trying to build higher defences within the city.
"Whether it was 2000 or 2012 or whenever, we've had a succession of significant flood events that are of the scale which were deemed to be unprecedented."
The project will take six years to complete, the council said.
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