Should building housing estates on floodplains be banned?

WHY do developers build on floodplains? Because it’s allowed and it makes money. Combe Valley in Hastings is a floodplain that has been under water for the past two weeks. However, planning permission has been granted for housing. In a few years, will we see footage on the news of the residents being rescued from their homes?

ROSALIND HARRISON,

Catsfield, E. Sussex.

We HAVE been assured that no house building should occur on floodplains unless in special circumstances. I am concerned 600-plus houses and an Ikea store are being developed on a floodplain at the foot of the South downs. Water filters through the chalk and ends up on the floodplain. The development will be west of the River Adur, which has new flood defences, but after recent storms, we have seen how successful these can be.

GINA SCOTTING, Lancing, W. Sussex.

IN ITS wisdom, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council has planned for 1,000 new houses, half of which are on the River Roch floodplain, in my small Pennine village. When people buy these properties, the council won’t

be footing the insurance policies or providing cash if they flood. As for the developers, will they simply walk away saying the land has always flooded?

Mrs LINDA MELLALIEU, Littleborough, Gtr Manchester.

LOCAL councils, struggling to fulfil government quotas for new houses, just pay lip service to the advice of statutory consultees such as the Environment Agency. Consent is granted against advice, with assurances from the developer to manage risk. I have a cottage in a Dorset village. An application to build an estate on higher ground across the road was granted. We were assured soakaways would manage surface water run-off. However, these have not been maintained and during heavy rain a deluge crosses the road to flood our garden and, on several occasions, our home. Before the houses were built, the rain was absorbed naturally into the land. The village also suffers from foul flooding because the sewerage system can’t cope. In the past few weeks, at the same time as tankers were emptying overflowing sewers, another housing development was approved. The Environment Agency needs stronger statutory powers to veto development.

JOY BLACKWOOD, Potters Bar, Herts.

WHY does planning permission continue to be given for new houses to be built on floodplains in the light of clearly changing weather patterns?

GERRY DOYLE, Liverpool.

IF LOCAL councils insist on allowing homes to be built on floodplains, I suggest they only give permits for properties on stilts, or houseboats.

JANET DUIGNAN, address supplied.