A talk about the character of the Bradford Beck given at the University of Bradford, April 2012.

1. The challenges of the catchment-based approach
The Bradford Beck - an urban stream
David Lerner
ART and Catchment Science Centre
Michael Canning
ART

2. What do we want from urban
rivers?
Economy Society Environment
No floods! Access Biodiversity
Jobs Recreation Habitats
Property value Built environment Clean water
Investment Health Low carbon
Transport Community Ecological processes

3. The talk
• What is the Bradford Beck like?
• What are the issues?
• Does it deliver?
• What are the challenges?

4. Bradford Beck
• 225 000 River Aire
population
• 60 km2
• A typical urban Catchment
stream boundary

5. Photos: Simon Warner
Upstream idyll?

6. Upstream sediment sources
Photos: Kevin Sunderland

7. Photos © p ill.d Phill Davison, Rose Reeve
Goitside – historical water power

8. Need some space?
` `
1850: Now you see it … … now you don’t: 1900

9. Need some space today?
Photos: Simon Warner, self
Fly tipping
Emergency power plant
Space for car wash

10. The City Centre has no river …
Photos © p ill.d Phill Davison
• 2.5 km culverted under city
• Plus the tributaries
• Mostly by end of 19th century

11. … but it has a Mirror Pool

12. What are the issues?
• Water quality
• Morphology
• Flooding
• Ownership

13. Combined sewer overflows
CSO
• Despite spending £19M in
2000s:
– Reducing CSOs from 69
to 51
– Adding screens to 35
CSOs
– Installing 10 storage
units totalling 17000 m3
• Still water quality
problems
• Unknown number of
surface water outfalls

14. Photos: Simon Warner, Kevin Sunderland
14:00
Misconnections
15:00

15. 2009 fish kill: industrial discharge?

16. Photo: Simon Warner
Morphology
Map: Edina Digimap

17. Photos: Phill Davison, Kevin Sunderland, self
Morphology

18. Flooding
• Major floods 1946,
1968, 1975 (3 died)
• Interceptor tunnel
1970s 1948: flood is said to have burst
• Not main river, so LA the culvert in Market Street
is lead for flooding

19. “Ownership”
• Very little housing in the
riparian area
• Under roads, or Institutions Public
• Industrial, commercial,
public sector riparian
ownership Riparian Friends of
owners …
• Stakeholder groups 

20. Stakeholder groups
• Bradford MDC • Citizens
• Yorkshire Water • Non-water groups
• Environment Agency • Non- riparian businesses
Institutions Public
Riparian Friends of
owners …
• Industrial • Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
• Commercial • Friends of Chellow Dene
• Public sector • Friends of Northcliffe Park
• Public realm • etc

21. Does it deliver?
Economy Society Environment
No floods! Access Biodiversity
Jobs Recreation Habitats
Property value Built environment Clean water
Investment Health Low carbon
Transport Community Ecological processes

22. What are the technical
challenges?
• Prevent pollution • Restore the morphology
– CSOs – De-culvert
– Misconnections – De-weir
– Illicit discharges – Recreate flood plain
– Fly tipping – Increase low flows
• Reduce flood runoff • Provide habitats
– Retention and Detention – Bed forms and substrate
– Eastern bypass – Riparian and banks
– Wetlands

23. What are the social challenges?
• The scale of the problem
Eddie-lawler.co.uk
• No (recent) history of Beck
champions
– Although …
• Conflicting interests
Photo Simon Warner
• Money!

24. A non-water group: BORG
• The Odeon cinema
– One of the largest pre-war cinema
complexes
• 3000 seats
• Ballroom
• Restaurant
– Derelict since 1980s
– Restore or replace?
– The Bradford Odeon Rescue Group
• Passionate lobby group for restoration
• http://www.bradfordodeonrescuegroup.co.uk/

25. The Odeon cinema
Telegraph & Argus
• Sits over the
Bradford Beck
• Two lobby
groups with
different desires

26. Riparian owners
• Can we persuade them:
– To give space back to the Beck
– To stop polluting

27. Missed opportunity or clever
engineering?
1890s
Demountable link

28. A real opportunity:
Canal Road Corridor
• Major
redevelopment
area
• Mainly
industrial or
open space
• Joint venture
between BMDC
and major
landowner
• Currently
consulting on
master-plan
• Beck culverted
or in canyon
• Canal proposed

30. Scenarios put to consultation

31. The plan to get a plan
• More information • Understand stakeholders’
– More water quality issues, perspectives,
sampling opportunities, desires:
– Invertebrate sampling – Yorkshire Water
– Understanding runoff and – Bradford Council
flooding – Riparian occupiers
– Clean water in sewers – Public, including
– Catchment walking: environmental and
• Surface water drainage community groups
• Mapping misconnections
• etc

32. Delivering a plan
• Money • Vision
• Regulatory and planning
powers • Pressure
• Capability • Monitoring
• Economic drivers
Institutions Public
Riparian Friends of
owners …
• Behaviour changes • Vision
• Ownership and pride • Pressure
• Misconnection rectification
• Monitoring