The site of a proposed new housing development in Kelvedon may be susceptible to flooding, a planning inquiry heard.

Tiptree Trading Company has appealed against Braintree Council's decision to refuse planning permission for the construction of 14 flats on an old coal yard in Station Road, next to the River Blackwater.

At an informal hearing, planning solicitor David Whipps, representing the council, argued the development was outside the village, too large for the character of the Kelvedon and inaccurate in its attempts to fit in with traditional building styles.

But Ray Stemp, Tiptree Trading Company's planning consultant, said it was just the sort of development on ex-industrial land that housing policies now encouraged.

Representatives of Kelvedon Parish Council attended the inquiry with photographs of last October's floods showing water covering the coal yard.

They said the Environment Agency's ongoing review of flood plains could conclude the risk of flooding there was much higher than previously thought.

But Mr Stemp argued that even last year's record floodwaters would not have reached the ground floor of the flats, and that the application complied with planning guidelines allowing building where there is less than a once in 100 years risk of flooding.

The planning inspector will announce his decision later

Published Friday August 9, 2002

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