Environment Secretary to meet with Yorkshire MPs over floods

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Liz Truss, has agreed to meet the cross-party group of MPs as well as a delegation from the worst hit areas, including Leeds.

The Labour MP for Leeds Central MP and former Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, confirmed he will be among those lobbying the Government on Wednesday to resurrect a £190m scheme along the River Aire after it was abandoned in 2011 due to cost.

He said he was reassured that Ms Truss has agreed to look at the “Leeds scheme” in a statement given to the House of Commons, but stressed the city needs a far more significant investment if it is to preserve its capacity for economic growth.

Mr Benn, who was the Environment Secretary between 2007 and 2010, said: “When it comes to Kirkstall and the devastating for businesses, we will be going to say to the Government: ‘You’ve seen what’s happened, it was a mistake to say in 2011 we are not funding the full Leeds flood defence scheme.”

To Ms Truss, he will say: “We now need a commitment from you that you will, because we’ve got to protect the city and protect the businesses affected.”

The economic development of Leeds depends on the larger scheme being installed, he argues, and for businesses to be taken into consideration in flood planning as much as properties are.

Mr Benn said the current Government has a formula for allocating flood funding in which residential properties outweigh commercial properties. Yet until the same level of protection is offered to Kirkstall, Leeds’ economic development as a whole will suffer, according to Mr Benn.

Citing a commitment made by the Environment Secretary in early January that the Government will “review the Leeds scheme” to ensure that it is sufficient to protect “businesses and communities”, he said that he will hold her to account on the claim.

“She said she will look at the Leeds scheme to ensure that it’s sufficiently resilient for the new conditions we are facing,” he said.

“Now, I have no idea what that means, but we will ask her.

“The next thing she said was the Government will be reviewing the Leeds scheme to ensure that it is sufficient to protect ‘businesses and communities in Leeds’ – well, you’re going to have to have the further phase to protect the businesses in Kirkstall.”

The original plans were dropped in 2011 and included 12 miles of defences along the River Aire. Instead, the first phase of the larger plan was adopted, and £45m will be spent on work at Leeds Bridge, and moveable weirs at Crown Point Bridge and at Knostrop Cut.

The defences will provide the city centre and more than 3,000 homes and 500 businesses with protection against flood events from the River Aire and the Hol Beck.

A spokesperson for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said Ms Truss will want to assess if Leeds can currently cope with new levels of rainfall, but whether a new scheme will be developed or previous proposals revisited can only be decided after a thorough investigation. She will discuss this with MPs on Wednesday.

Mr Benn said he will also be asking for more detail on what the Government’s £40m flood repair money will be spent on.

He said they must be clear which funds are for Leeds and the rest of Yorkshire to get back to its pre-flood condition, and what finance is available for schemes that need to be enhanced to deal with climate change’s wetter winters.

Town of the great divide: Page 9; Comment: Page 10.