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Plans for more than 50 homes in a Derbyshire town are set for approval, despite a warning that the residents who lived in them would be “on the cusp of flooding”.

The application, submitted by Chevin Homes to Ltd to Derbyshire Dales District Council, would see 25 bungalows and 32 houses built on land off Bakewell Road, Matlock, next to the railway line and opposite Whitworth Hospital.

A total of 29 homes would be affordable housing, including all of the bungalows.

District council planners have recommended that the application is approved at a meeting on Tuesday, January 14.

The River Derwent runs close to the site, on the opposite side of the railway.

Derbyshire County Council, as the lead flood authority, has “advised caution”.

It says: “Drone footage taken during flooding in the area on November 7 and 8 shows the limit of the flood water in the area of the site approximately corresponding to the limits of flood zones two and three.

“When a similar flooding event reoccurs, residents will be on the cusp of flooding.

“In a scenario where the river level rose to these levels, any surface water may not be able to discharge, therefore the houses could be at increased risk of pluvial and/or sewer flooding.

“Buyers of the houses in the lower part of the development should be made aware of the flood risks within the site and provided with a suitable action plan in the event of similar flooding to that of the November 7 and 8, 2019.”

Meanwhile, Darley Dale Town Council has also been highly critical of the plans.

It said: “The flooding that occurred on November 7-8 covered the entire site and the plans run very close to flood plain land – this makes the flooding a material consideration.

“The most vulnerable people in our town will be placed on this site and to allow them to be placed on an area that is known to flood is problematic.”

Several residents also object to the plans, saying: “Matlock is slowly becoming overwhelmed by new housing estates putting more pressure on the Victorian drainage, GP Surgeries and schools and causing flood issues in the very near future.

“The flood plain is not a sustainable location to build and regularly floods so permitting planning for houses here is clearly wrong and will put people's lives at risk and the properties won’t be able to get flood cover.”

Outline planning permission has already been granted for the site. The district council says it would be at risk of having to make a payout to the developers if it refused the application based on objections which “relate to issues that should already have been considered at the outline stage”.

The applicant’s consultants have looked at drone footage and images of the November flooding of the site and have concluded that the development would not be impacted.

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency indicates that the site is at risk from flooding from three reservoirs, Howden, Ladybower and Derwent.

The applicants consultants, say: “Reservoir flooding is extremely unlikely to happen. There has been no loss of life in the UK from reservoir flooding since 1925. All large reservoirs must be inspected and supervised by reservoir panel engineers.”

Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge, around 20 miles north-west of the Matlock site, hit national headlines last summer after large chunks of the dam wall broke away following heavy rainfall.

Around 1,500 residents in Whaley Bridge were evacuated in the event that the dam could give way and flood the town.

Fortunately, disaster was avoided.

If approved, 80 per cent of the affordable homes on the Matlock site would be put to market at 80 per cent rent while the remaining 20 per cent of homes would be shared ownership.

Outline approval was granted for the development in 2017 and this application seeks to finalise the details of the scheme.

A children’s play area is planned as part of the development along with an “informal open space”.

A formal footpath will also be created to link the site to the White Peak Loop.