Council recommended to approve plans to raise plot of land at Saxilby despite concerns of ‘disastrous’ flooding
West Lindsey District Council has been recommended to approve plans to raise a plot of land in Saxilby near Lincoln, despite community concerns about it potentially flooding neighbouring fields and properties.
After planning permission was granted to build a replacement property and a new detached garage on what has been described as a “self-build” plot on West Bank, proposals to raise the ground have been submitted to the council.
The approved dwelling is now substantially complete, and the applicant, Giles Kirk, wishes to raise the level of the land back to its original state to make the site more usable.
However, several members of the community have raised concerns about the idea, noting that the land in question has been a floodplain and boggy ground for more than a hundred years.
They fear that should the plans go ahead, it will flood neighbouring fields and properties.
Ward councillor Jackie Brockway (Conservative) explained her objection to the proposal: “This is very serious because the applicant is attempting to raise the levels of what has been a flood plain and boggy ground for more than 100 years.
Residents have advised me that it is recognised as such in very old ordnance survey maps.
“The application talks of raising the land to where it was previously, but residents who have lived on West Bank for many years assert that it has always been as low as it is now.
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“If this land is raised it will flood the neighbours. At the moment, the site is under a lot of water and it is certainly not suitable for raising or development of any kind. It’s a flood plain and needs to remain as such.”
Over the past few months local residents living along West Bank have called for help due to the worsening condition of their road and riverbank, which threatens to leave them isolated.
They attribute the damage to the road and riverbank to the heavy traffic of delivery trucks servicing local businesses and tankers accessing Anglian Water’s sewage works at the end of the road.
Saxilby Parish Council also believes that the construction traffic from raising the ground on this plot of land will worsen matters.
They wrote: “There is an anticipated impact with the amount of HGV movements along West Bank, which is a single-lane road.
“There are no passing places. The construction traffic could cause instability of the bank alongside the canal if vehicles try to pass each other.”
The plans have garnered 45 formal objections via WLDC’s Planning Portal, with several local residents citing similar concerns.
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West Bank resident Victoria Hotchkin wrote: “The area floods every year; where will that water go, and what will the environmental impact be on the neighbouring land?”
Meanwhile, John Harrison, also of West Bank, commented: “Building on this land would have a disastrous effect on the nearby properties as it would raise the possibility, almost certainly, that they would be flooding during bad weather.”
WLDC’s Planning Committee is due to discuss the application at their meeting on Wednesday, February 28th.