By John Baron
Initial works towards a major scheme to install a multi-million pound wetlands area to filter and store storm water in Pudsey could soon be decided by Leeds City Council planners.
In August Yorkshire Water submitted a planning application for enabling works to allow the scheme at the former sewage works off Hough Side Road to move forward ahead of a full planning application being submitted in 2025.
The initial proposals include the removal of existing hard standing, access track and structures, the construction of new access road, installation of a kiosk, temporary security fencing and installation of a site compound area.
The enabling work is a precursor to the main proposals to create a ‘wetland’ area where plants act like filters for the water entering Pudsey Beck, creating a home for wildlife with cleaner water. The scheme will help reduce storm overflow use into the beck.
The public consultation period on the initial enabling works planning application will end tomorrow (New Year’s Eve 2024) and a council decision on the work is expected in early 2025.
But the proposals have led to some concerns.
Leeds City Council’s landscape team currently does not support the overall scheme due to the felling of trees on the site.
In a report submitted last month (November), they said the scheme “…amounts to thousands of trees of various ages and size being lost.
“The existing character is one of a rich tapestry of wooded areas and open fields. It is acknowledged that the northern part, predominated by fields, is included in the SAP (Site Allocations Plan). However, the best characteristics will be destroyed by this development proposal and replaced with a very engineered/utilitarian landscape of plateaus, open tanks, sewage storage, maintenance tracks, embankments, security fencing and general sterility.”
The report adds: “…The scheme would not allow for any meaningful mitigation in terms of harm to the landscape character, the loss of public amenity and loss of increasing carbon removal and storage as the wooded areas continue to mature over time.
“There are potentially other less harmful options for the scheme which need to be explored.”
The scheme is part of a £36 million in four projects across west Leeds and Bradford to improve water quality in Pudsey Beck and reduce discharges from storm overflows during heavy rain.
A decision on the enabling works is expected in the New Year.
The plans can be read in full here.