Meanwood Beck Flood Risk Study

Meanwood Beck Catchment Flood Risk Study

Meanwood Beck is a designated main river from the north of Leeds from Golden Acre Park at the top of the catchment through the city centre meeting the River Aire at Crown Point Weir. 

Find out how we’re reducing the risk of flooding around Meanwood with our flood risk study.

Why Meanwood needs flood protection

[Meanwood Beck in Scotland Wood]

There have been major flooding events in the Meanwood Beck Catchment in 2002, 2007 and 2015. This has affected commercial properties at Sugar Well Road and Meanwood Close and residential properties at Monk Bridge and Boothroyd Drive. In addition, the Mill Garth Hospital close to the beck was flooded in 2004 and 2007. There has also been frequent flooding from Meanwood Beck to highway infrastructure.

More recently, in May 2024, Leeds City Council received 51 reports of flooding from Meanwood Beck, with several properties severely affected by flood water in the catchment.

Work to date to identify a solution

Leeds City Council have been working with the Environment Agency to model the Meanwood Beck catchment and identify areas of flood risk since 2020.

The process for assessing flood alleviation scheme options is complex. It requires testing a huge number of variables across the catchment, as what happens many miles upstream has impacts all the way downstream. Solutions need to provide flood risk reduction whilst also being environmentally friendly, community friendly and financially affordable. The effects of climate change also need to be factored in to ensure that we develop schemes that can adapt to increased rainfall and higher river levels in the decades to come.

The first step of this study was for our team to build an intricate flood model of the catchment area. Once the model was approved by the Environment Agency, we carried out detailed assessments of over 20 different options and locations that would help to reduce the flood risk to residential and commercial properties along the river corridor.

The options that we have considered include:

• Flood Storage at Breary Marsh
• Flood Storage at the Golf Club
• Flood Storage at Golden Acre Park
• An overflow drainage connection to Eccup Reservoir
• Flood Storage in Scotland Wood
• Flood Storage at The Hollies
• Flood Storage in Meanwood Park
• De-culverting Stain Beck
• Flood Storage at Meanwood Valley Urban Farm
• Retaining walls at various positions on the beck
• Flood storage at Grove Lane
• Flood Storage at the Cricket Pitch
• Flood Storage at Gledow Lake
• Retaining walls at Buslingthorpe
• Retaining walls in the City Centre
• Work to the River Aire Confluence

An assessment of all the above potential sites has highlighted issues like environmental factors, such as ancient woodland designation, high difficulty in terrain, affordability, impact on parks and public spaces, and a lack of sufficient flood storage. This has enabled the Leeds City Council Flood and Climate Resilience Management team to conclude that a traditional flood prevention scheme, such as a flood wall or flood storage, is not a viable choice in this catchment.

Next steps to deliver flood risk protection

Whilst a ‘traditional’ flood alleviation scheme is not possible to achieve, we are continuing to work on the best value solutions to reduce the risk of flooding in the Meanwood Beck catchment.

We are now pursuing funding for 3 areas of work:

1. Property Flood Resilience (PFR) – we will be undertaking surveys to identify properties that could benefit from flood resilience measures being installed directly onto them or their grounds. Examples of PFR include flood doors and self-closing air bricks, more information can be found on the Be Flood Ready Website. We are currently only considering properties flooding from the Beck (fluvial flooding) for these measures, qualifying properties will receive direct correspondence via post from our supplier, JBA, in the coming weeks.
2.  Solutions for surface water flooding (pluvial flooding) – we will be carrying out drainage modelling to further understand the areas of the Meanwood catchment that were flooded during May 2024, and are situated away from the beck. The aim is to address surface water run off through urban areas by improving existing drainage and implementing sustainable drainage systems that will improve water quality and improve amenity. We are looking to slow down the surface water reaching the Meanwood Beck, which will help to improve the existing channel capacity during rainfall events. In addition, we are looking to work with our partners Yorkshire Water, to improve capacity and resilience in their drainage systems.
3.  Catchment wide Natural Flood Management to slow the flow – introducing techniques like tree planting, soil aeration and other land management practises in the rural areas of the catchment to help absorb and store more water and slow run-off into Meanwood Beck.

The approaches outlined above could combine to provide effective flood alleviation for the homes and businesses of Meanwood, as well as providing environmental benefits and more resilient infrastructure for the communities in the Meanwood Beck catchment.

Contact us

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For any more information, please email us at FRM@leeds.gov.uk and include ‘Meanwood Beck flood risk study'

Page last reviewed: July 2026