THE Environment Secretary visited York to see the first of the new pumps installed in the Foss Barrier in an effort to prevent a repeat of last winter’s floods..
Andrea Leadsom watched as a crane lifted one of the flood barriers' old pumps out of the building, and engineers readied the site for the new stronger pumps to be installed.
The eight new pumps mean the pumping station will have a capacity of 40 cubic metres per second, up from 30. That capacity will rise again to 50 cubic metres per second next year, following upgrades to the power supply.
Mrs Leadsom said: "The flooding of the Foss Barrier became a focal point of last winter's devastating floods and I am delighted to see it strengthened ahead of this winter, with £17m invested, so our great city of York is better protected than ever before.
"Of course we can't stop the rain falling and rivers rising, but I want people to be assured we are doing everything we can to keep our communities as safe as possible."
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