Plans unveiled for £16m Tadcaster flood defence scheme

Flooding in 2022 was caused by heavy rainfall

A £16m protection scheme for a flood-hit North Yorkshire town has been unveiled.

Tadcaster was badly affected in 2022, 2017 and 2015, when flood water washed away an 18th Century bridge.

Proposals include improved defences on both sides of the River Wharfe incorporating bunds - barriers which protect properties from rising water, sheet piles and retaining walls.

The plans go on public display at the town's Ark building.

Paul Stockhill from the Environment Agency, said: "The town has experienced devastating floods as recently as February last year, and we are working as fast as we can to develop a scheme which offers the best possible level of flood protection for people and is able to withstand the increasingly extreme weather we are experiencing as a result of climate change."

There was criticism in the wake of the 2022 flooding that work had not yet started despite the government allocating £11m for defence work in 2019.

The Environment Agency said it wanted the defences to be in keeping with existing buildings and walls in the town and is also keen to ensure the areas around the church and surrounding historic properties benefit from a greater level of flood protection and retain their special character.

The scheme also aims to improve biodiversity, with the construction of a fish pass also planned.

Tadcaster's existing flood defences were constructed in the 1980s and are a combination of raised earth embankments and flood walls along both banks of the river.

Selby and Ainsty Conservative MP Nigel Adams said: "Tadcaster needs improved flood defences as soon as possible to prevent the river overtopping its banks as it did in 2015 when the bridge collapsed, 2017 and again in 2022.

"This is a major step forward and I encourage everybody interested in the scheme to attend one of the drop-in events where Environment Agency staff will be on hand to explain the design."