Houses can be built on floodplains despite failing safety test, says high court
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The ruling clears the way for a highly controversial development of 190 new homes on north Somerset’s floodplains, despite the site being in “flood zone 3a”, the highest level of flood risk before land is considered a functional floodplain.
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“This is a dangerous and nationally significant exploitation of planning loopholes,” Munt said. “Tragically, we’ve lost the battle in north Somerset, but we need to change the framework as a matter of urgency, so this ruling doesn’t result in planners and developers across the country making similar speculative housing applications.”
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The Environment Agency objected to the development on flood risk grounds. But the high court agreed that even though the sequential test had failed, the inspector was entitled to consider the development’s wider benefits and whether it could be made safe for its lifetime when weighing the application.
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“Without insurance, our home – the home we worked hard throughout our lives to pay for so we could leave it to our children – could become unmortgageable, and then unsellable,” she said. “Thanks to Persimmon, our only asset could become a dangerous flood hazard for us – and a worthless inheritance for our children.”
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