LAND that has been earmarked for new homes in Ludlow is in the flood plain despite warnings that this should not happen.

A plan for a new development at the Linney is on land that has flooded this year and in the autumn of 2019.

The scheme would involve changing the site but Andy Boddington, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow North, claims that this would simply move flood water downstream.

Coun Boddington claims that between 2015 and 2018, 764 homes in Shropshire or one in 20 were built on flood plains designated as being at greatest risk from flooding.

“The developer plans to reprofile the land,” said Coun Boddington.

“But this will reduce the floodplain and increase flooding downstream because water must go somewhere.

“Only if there is absolutely nowhere else to build, can the floodplain be used. But we are not short of places to build homes in Ludlow.

“We have several hundred approved and waiting to be built. Yet Shropshire Council has approved homes at Linney House and looks set to approve a revised application because the Environment Agency doesn’t object.”

Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, has spoken out against building in the flood plain in a speech.

“As the population grows, we are likely to see the number of properties in the flood plain almost double over the next 50 years,” he said.

“But the clue is in the name: flood plain.

“So we can and should insist that development only happens there if there is no real alternative, that any such development doesn’t increase other people’s flood risk.”

The use of river flood plains for housing development has become increasingly common as planners and developers look for land that can be used for housing.

Homes in flood plains can have a higher insurance premium.