£1.9m investment to reduce discharges from Leeds storm overflow underway

Yorkshire Water is investing £1.9m at a storm overflow in Gildersome to reduce the number of discharges into Farnley Wood Beck, improving the health of the watercourse. 

A new surface water sewer and outfall will be installed from Spring Avenue in the village to the green space by Spring View for highway drainage to flow to, preventing it from entering the combined sewer network.  

Once completed, the project is expected to reduce the risk of the Dean Beck storm overflow discharging into Farnley Wood Beck during periods of heavy or prolonged rainfall by 40%, as flows within the sewer will be significantly reduced. 

Contract partners Galliford Try are already underway with the project and are expecting to complete it in March 2025. 

Lumi Ajayi, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “The project at Farnley Wood Beck is part of a £180m investment project across Yorkshire by the end of April 2025 to reduce discharges from storm overflows, and is an important step in improving the quality of watercourses in and around Leeds.” 

The surface water network will be installed in stages, and teams will be seen moving around the area. Due to the location of the new pipes, and for the safety of teams and local people, temporary road closures will be necessary. 

A section of Springbank Road will be closed to vehicles, with a signed diversion in place, on weekdays until the Christmas break. Spring Avenue, Church Avenue, and Springbank Crescent will be closed in the same way in January 2025. The greenspace and footpaths off Springbank Crescent will be closed during the works.  

Lumi added: “We thank residents and road users for their patience whilst we work on this incredibly important investment.” 

Nearby, Yorkshire Water is working on a project to reduce discharges by 77% at its Pudsey Smalewell storm overflow, by installing 3,500m3 of storm water storage.  

The utility is also planning its largest ever environmental investment between 2025 and 2030, which includes over £1bn to further reduce the impact of storm overflow discharges on the region’s watercourses. 

Customers can find out more about the the £180m investment project at https://www.yorkshirewater.com/environment/river-health/storm-overflow-investment/.