Housing developer Bewley Homes rejects claims that 270-home Wash Water development would increase flooding risks in area

A housing developer that wants to build 270 homes in Wash Water has rejected claims that the development would increase flooding risks in the area.

Bewley Homes wants to build a sizable housing development titled Watermill Bridge just south of Newbury on a triangle of land that is between the A34 and the A343 and below the Wash Water road.

A local residents group called the Enborne River Valley Preservation Society recently claimed that this development could cause new and existing properties to be at a higher risk of flooding due to the area’s fragile ecosystem.

However, the housing developer has stated that the flood risk assessment it carried out shows that this is not the case.

Strategic land director at Bewley Homes Andy Morris said: “We have tested our site with a bespoke flood risk model and have proposed no development on any areas which are higher than flood zone 1 (the lowest risk).

“We have received a response from the Environment Agency to confirm that our modelling has been considered appropriate to demonstrate the level of flood risk for our site.”

Mr Morris also stated that the current landowner has not suffered through any period of prolonged flooding while living on his property and that neither the Environment Agency nor Hampshire County Council as the lead local flood authority hold any objection over the proposed scheme.

Bewley also wanted to clear up any concerns that the Enborne River Valley Preservation Society had about Enborne properties being at a higher flooding risk if the Watermill Bridge development was given the go ahead.

Mr Morris said: “As we are not building in any area potential to flood it is safe to say that no displacement of any existing flood waters will occur. This makes the position for existing houses no worse than current as the status quo will remain.

“As we have stated we will ensure that our new homes remain outside of any potential for flood occurrence.

“The water meadows proposed may also provide a better managed water situation across the site overall by drastically reducing the speed of water movement by proving more freeboard.”

Mr Morris stated that a key objective for Watermill Bridge is to provide quality housing for families that need it.

He said: “In terms of housing, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council have an outstanding requirement for housing which they are failing to deliver, and by putting back the Local Plan by some 12 months have ensured that families in urgent housing need will not get the homes they deserve.

“The Government appears to have underlined this in the watering down of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to avoid any mandatory targets for housing delivery, meaning that local need gets ignored on the basis of objections from voters who presumably already have a home.

“Michael Gove has stated: ‘We have an urgent need in this country to build more homes so that everyone – whether they aspire to home ownership of not – can have a high-quality, affordable place to live.’”

“This is what Bewley has sought to achieve in our proposal at Watermill Bridge and we have designed a scheme which is beautiful in design and meets the highest standards for energy efficiency and biodiversity, together with community benefits and sustainable transport links.

“We would hope that this is recognised in consideration of the project by the council.”