A councillor has called for housing construction works in Burton Joyce to be suspended after major flooding in the village.
Trent Valley Councillor Sam Smith sent a letter to Gedling Borough Council chief executive Mike Avery over the weekend calling for a halt to housing construction works taking place at Glebe Farm and on Orchard Close.
In a letter to Mr Avery he wrote: “Heavy rainfall is causing large amounts of surface water that has nowhere to go and the overall cause was the housing development sites on Glebe Farm and Orchard Close.
“It is obvious that building on the green belt of green fields concretes over natural drainage and this is a point that myself, Cllr Mike Adams and the residents of Bulcote Drive and Orchard Close made while the planning application were being determined and is one of the reasons we both voted against both applications.
“Sadly, we were ignored and as a result Orchard Close, Chesterfield Drive, Bulcote Drive, Trentham Gardens and Main Steet in Burton Joyce flooded worse than ever on Thursday and, once the water had finally drained away, turned into a mud bath caused by mud off the housing development sites.
“The Co-op, chip shop and Post Office also had to close due to flood water entering them or the entrances only being assessable by canoe.
“It is our understanding that a condition of the planning permission granted on Orchard Close was for a water holding tank and new drains to be installed. This hasn’t happened yet but the site has been cleared, trees removed and mud piles exposed , hence why a moody waterfall rushed down the road from the housing development, into residents’ garages and the local shops.
“We therefore ask that planning enforcement measures are taken to immediately pause any further works on both the Orchard Close and Glebe Farm sites until adequate drainage is installed on both to prevent reoccurring flooding.”
“To prevent another muddy washout, it’ll be helpful if the Planning Department could now carry out some enforcement action at both Glebe Farm and Orchard Close which will improve site drainage and prevent future flooding.
A spokesman for Gedling Borough Council told Gedling Eye they are now investigating complaints about the housing development following the recent flooding.
They said: “On Thursday, large parts of the borough and the county saw extremely high levels of rainfall, causing flooding across several areas.
“We have been working with colleagues at Nottinghamshire County Council, who are responsible for the countywide response to flooding, and provided support for households who were in imminent danger of flooding, providing sandbags to several homes.
“Our road sweepers had recently been out to the affected areas, as part of the normal cleaning cycle and were back out again on Friday clearing up debris and will continue to do so over the next few days.
“We have also been made aware of complaints raised about a nearby housing development, our planning team will investigate any complaints and speak to the developers to ensure they are working in accordance with the planning permissions.”
Luckily there was no flooding in Arnold. We are very lucky. You have a good counsellor their Burton Joyce.
Just like the cladding scandal, it seems that the relevant council departments just ” nod through” the applications, without regard to the risks.
Just a pity the clowns in planing don’t take any notice of them
Torally agree. When I was on education at Carlton le Willows in the 70s what is now Burton Pastures was always flooded. Yes we need new homes but as Mike Adams pointed out there are a lot of properties in Burton Joyce built on high ground and where does water run, down hill.