‘Crucial’ riverbank repairs to start

The work will address long-running concerns over the state of the banks of the city’s rivers, and York Council announced yesterday that a major programme of repairs will get under way next month.

It will mark the second phase of the work after initial repairs were carried out 18 months ago to a stretch of bank along the River Ouse downstream of Clifton Bridge.

The latest stage of the repairs, which are expected to take 10 days to complete, will be conducted on a quarter-mile stretch of bank between Clifton and Scarborough bridges starting on Tuesday May 2.

A spokeswoman for York Council confirmed that a collapse of the embankment could damage a cycle route, which runs along the top of the bank, as well as a nearby public sewer serving the whole of Clifton.

The first phase of the work will involve cutting back trees that are damaging the piling.

But a council spokeswoman stressed that a full environmental survey will be carried out before any works start to ensure that nesting birds and protected species are not disturbed.

River traffic will be largely unaffected by the works and use of the riverside footpath and cycle route will be maintained, although there will be minor diversions.

It emerged two years ago that York Council was looking to spend £400,000 on a scheme to improve the stretch of the River Ouse between Scarborough and Clifton bridges.

But carrying out all the necessary repairs could take up to a decade, and council officials warned that the work could cost millions of pounds.

The last major repairs to be carried out on the river bank walls in the area was during the late 1970s and early 1980s.