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Rectory Homes unveils redesigned flood prevention scheme for proposed new King’s Sutton development

At the drop-in meeting held at King’s Sutton’s Millennium Memorial Hall in August to showcase Rectory Homes’ proposed new housing development in the village, residents and parish councillors made the company’s staff very aware of locals’ concerns over flooding in the area. Some 80% of the 200-plus respondents to a follow-up survey of local residents organised by the parish council said they were against another major development in the village, and 75% of those cited the risk of further flooding problems as one of the main reasons for their opposition to the Rectory Homes scheme.

The developer’s reaction to these flooding concerns has been to engage Didcot-based Glanville Consultants to design additional flood prevention measures for its proposed King’s Sutton site. Representatives of King’s Sutton Parish Council met with Rectory Homes and Glanville in early November to discuss these new measures. 

The main amendments made to the original draft Rectory Homes proposals are as follows:

• To change the “wildlife pond” on the northern edge of the site into a flood mitigation pond into which “exceedings” (excess water) can be directed so as to reduce pressure on the outlet into the drain at Hampton Drive/Windsor Close.
• To install a major new ditch along the northern and eastern edges of the site to take excess water to the attenuation pond.
• To divert some of the exceedings from the attenuation pond towards the Banbury Lane culvert. (Rectory Homes and Glanville say this would be done in a controlled way so as to ensure that the capacity of the Banbury Lane culvert is not overrun.)
• To enlarge and re-design the planned southern attenuation pond.

Click here to view a plan of the revised flood prevention measures proposed by Rectory Homes.

What next?

King’s Sutton Parish Council will wait until a planning application is submitted before commenting on these and other issues relating to the proposed development. However, as no members of the council are drainage experts, it will have to rely on West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC’s) flooding specialists to make a thorough investigation into the efficacy of the proposed scheme.

For that reason, and because of the complications and sensitivities of the issue, the parish council has informed West Northamptonshire Councillor Rebecca Breese that it will be calling upon the technical skills of the unitary council’s planning department to examine the scheme thoroughly. Parish councillors have also offered to meet with those at WNC who will have the job of reviewing the scheme, to give them a feel for the important issues and a history of the site and its immediate surroundings.

Rectory Homes has confirmed that it will provide final copies of its drainage plans when they are completed. The company is now planning to lodge an outline planning application at the end of November/beginning of December. It has also confirmed that it is still working towards answering the questions previously submitted by the parish council in August and says it hopes to do that at the same time at its planning application is submitted. (Click here to view the questions to which the parish council has sought answers.)