Neighbours have concerns over scheme

Residents raised concerns about the development at a public consultation earlier this month at the Ashford Railway Club.

■ David Hovert of Riversdale Road, said: “Obviously the main concern is the water plain flooding.

“They keep going on about this wetland park, but the water goes where it goes you can’t change that.

“The biggest fear is where are the cars going to go?

“The roundabout by the outlet’s bad enough as it is, and this will only make it worse.”

■ Sandra Cox, also of Riversdale Road, said:

“We had to move out for 14 weeks in 2001 because our house became so water-logged.

“The water’s got to go somewhere.

“They say they’re protecting the new houses by using stilts but what about people living in the area?

“Behind my house, when you have a glut of rain it floods.

“It doesn’t matter what they are trying to say stuck behind a computer - it might sound fine but when you’re actually living here it’s a terrible idea.”

■ Michael Butcher, of Whitfield Road, said: “Our concern absolutely is the flooding.

“If you look at pictures from 1927, they show the flooding.

“If you look at four or five years ago, the image isn’t too different.

“Twenty years ago, they were handing out sandbags to protect houses from flooding. If that was that long ago - before B&Q and Halfords were built - what chance do we have now?

“To be convinced that this is viable, we’d want to hear from the Environment Agency - it’s only their judgment we’ll listen to.”

Resident Sandra Cox is opposed to the plan