![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/st-nicks-eco-center-york.webp\")
The St Nicks Eco Centre. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\nWorks to boost wildlife habitats at a York green space have been approved despite flooding fears.<\/p>\n
Plans to re-profile the watercourse of Tang Hall Beck, in Heworth Holme between Burnholme Drive and Tang Hall Lane, have been approved by York Council.<\/p>\n
Applicants St Nicks stated the works would enable the establishment of diverse vegetation suitable for animals including invertebrates, amphibians, birds and mammals while providing the public with new access opportunities.<\/p>\n
But seven objections were lodged claiming the works could increase the risk of flooding along the beck and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Council planning officers stated they and the Environment Agency found there would be no increased risk of flooding due to the works which would improve biodiversity.<\/p>\n
Environmental charity St Nicks\u2019 plans, which were lodged in 2024, include the removal of wood and steel bank protection using a 14-tonne digger.<\/p>\n
Protection is set to be removed when water levels are low, with St Nicks staff monitoring the works.<\/p>\n
The banks of the beck are set to be re-profiled with the grading changed.<\/p>\n
More bends will be created in the watercourse and the beck\u2019s capacity would also be increased.<\/p>\n
St Nicks is planning to work with the York Consortium of Drainage Boards (YCDB) and York St John University to put wood debris and brash berms in the stream.<\/p>\n
Coarse substrate will also be placed in selected locations in the bed of the beck.<\/p>\n
Riparian plants, those which naturally grow along the banks of rivers and streams, are also set to be seeded by St Nicks staff and volunteers.<\/p>\n
The St Nicks Eco Centre. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\n
Plans stated weather and beck levels are set to be monitored throughout the works which would be postponed if conditions become unsafe.<\/p>\n
But objectors to the plans, including Osbaldwick and Derwent\u2019s Restore UK councillor Mark Warters, said previous works on the beck in 2017 had raised concerns about flooding locally.<\/p>\n
They pointed to flooding in the nearby Osbaldwick Beck in January 2025 which resulted in it bursting its banks in Hull Road Park.<\/p>\n
Tang Hall Beck is in a Flood Zone Three which is deemed the most at risk.<\/p>\n
Council planning officers stated the intention of the scheme was to improve water quality and biodiversity which was consistent with its local policies.<\/p>\n
Officers stated: \u201cThe application has been supported by a site-specific flood risk assessment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe works include measures to increase capacity of the watercourse, by reprofiling the banks, in addition to altering the profile of the watercourse.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall the assessment concludes there would be no loss of capacity and no increased flood risk, either locally or elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Works to boost wildlife habitats at a York green space have been approved despite flooding fears. Plans to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-694381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}