Plan for £18m water treatment plant approved

Proposals for the large-scale development, earmarked for a site off Landing Lane in Acomb within the boundaries of an existing works which has served the city since the 19th century, were unanimously agreed by councillors at a planning meeting.

Contractors will now move in on the site in May, with the work expected to take up to 20 months.

Dafydd Williams, of Yorkshire Water's community engagement team, said: "An enormous amount of planning and care has gone into ensuring we have the ideal solution in place to not only benefit customers but also to ensure we continue to meet increasingly tough drinking water standards while making a positive difference from an environmental point of view.

"Although the work will be entirely contained within our existing site, we recognise that there is likely to be an increase in traffic entering and leaving the works and we want to reassure local residents and road users that we'll do everything in our power to ensure that any disruption caused by extra lorry movements is kept to an absolute minimum."

The existing plant's capacity has been downsized since 1999 and only two of the four treatment streams are operational.

The site has been extended over the years to meet supply and water quality standards, but outdated equipment has meant that the treatment process is especially labour intensive.

A feasibility study commissioned by Yorkshire Water recommended that a new treatment works was needed to meet drinking water standards. The plans involve building a new treatment plant and access road along with a high voltage electricity sub-station and a pump control panel kiosk.

The new works will treat around 35,000,000 litres every day. Planning permission was granted by the council's west and city centre area planning sub-committee.