Nearly 40 new homes to be built in March despite flooding concerns
A developer has been told it can build 39 new homes on the edge of March - despite neighbours and councillors sharing flooding concerns.
The new homes are due to be built to the north of the town on land off Elm Road.
Councillors at Fenland District Council have agreed to grant full planning permission for 37 new homes, including six two-bedroom homes, 18 three-bedroom homes, and 13 four-bedroom homes.
Outline approval was also granted for two self-build homes, but more detailed plans will need to be submitted and approved by the district council before they can be built.
Eight of the homes are planned as affordable housing, including six offered for affordable rent and two for shared ownership.
Developer Innerspace Homes Group had originally proposed to build 41 new homes at the site, but dropped this to 39 homes.
In planning documents, the developer said: “The number of houses has been reduced by two units. This has resulted in bigger gardens and greater separation from existing properties.
“The parking arrangement is also better with less areas of hard standing.”
The developer also outlined measures to deal with surface water drainage, including creating a central attenuation basin to provide an area on site where water can be collected when it rains.
A pump is also proposed to manage the drainage of the water off-site.
The lead local flood authority, Cambridgeshire County Council, said it believed the measures proposed would be able to manage the surface water drainage.
However, the internal drainage board said it had concerns about the plans.
The board also said it was opposed to the use of pumps as a long-term solution to deal with surface water, saying there can be problems with pumps when it rains.
People living in the area raised concerns about the development, with 33 households lodging formal objections.
Multiple neighbours claimed that the land where the homes are proposed to be built struggles to drain water fully during heavy rainfall.
They shared fears that building new homes on the site could increase the risk of their own homes flooding.
Cllr Jan French said she was concerned about the issue and said Elm Road had flooded in the past.
She also said she was “surprised” that the county council had agreed to sanction a pumping system.
Cllr French said she was aware of another pumping system that had failed when it rained, leading to homes getting flooded.
She said: “It is a case of buyers beware - residents will need to be made aware they will have to maintain [the pumping system] and if it packs up they will get flooded.”
Cllr Roy Gerstner said he was aware of problems with “pumps breaking down” and asked what would happen in this case if they did.
Officers said they recognised pumps came with a risk and said they would not normally be supported “unless absolutely necessary to get water off a site”.
They explained that modern pumps come with an alarm to notify people if they fail - and do have backup systems.
Officers added that the developer had been asked to model what would happen if the pump failed, and said this had shown that the new homes should not get flooded.
Cllr Charlie Marks said he would like to see a “robust flooding plan” put together to show how the issues would be managed.
Officers highlighted conditions for approval, including requiring more detailed plans to be submitted around drainage management.
Cllr French also raised concerns about the amount of money the developer was being asked to provide for services in the area that people moving into the new homes would use.
A total of £78,000 is proposed to be provided, despite more than £332,000 being requested by authorities in the area.
Cllr French said the doctor surgeries in the area could “not cope” and that the town’s schools are already “rammed”.
She asked where the people moving into the site would be able to go.
Officers said they acknowledged that the £78,000 fell “significantly short of the education and healthcare contributions” requested, but said the higher amount would not be viable for the developer.
They added that this was a wider issue facing the area, and said other developments in the district had been approved with “limited financial contributions”.
When a decision was put to a vote, the committee agreed unanimously to approve the application.
