4:11pm Thursday 30th August 2007
By Will Kilner
A defiant developer is set to mount an appeal after planners rejected a controversial proposal to build 60 new homes on a flood plain.
A plan to construct townhouses and apartments at the former Bridge End Cattle Market, in Otley, was turned down by Leeds City Council planners.
The move followed a warning from the Environment Agency that the scheme would "create an unacceptable risk to life and property".
The decision, which has delighted campaigners in the town, comes at a time when Met Office scientists are warning that devastating floods similar to those which swamped England last month will become more common over the next few decades.
But developer Wharfe Bridge, which today made clear its intention to appeal the decision, claims its proposals actually improve the flooding situation in the town while also providing economic and social benefits.
The company said it had worked closely with specialist flood-risk consultants JBA Consulting, to ensure appropriate flood-risk mitigation measures would be incorporated, protecting the development itself and reducing the flood risk to a nearby residential area.
The developer said its plans to raise the site to a level higher than the 100-year' flood level would have effectively blocked an existing flood route.
Bill Hudson, of Wharfe Bridge, said: "We are, of course, disappointed that planning permission for this development has been refused.
"However, some serious time, thought and experience has gone into this project and we are confident that once we can further demonstrate that the flooding has been properly addressed and provides a benefit far beyond the development itself, the appeal will be successful."
Otley Councillor Colin Campbell, who is chairman of the Plans Panel West, said: "The site was unsuitable and the proposals would have been detrimental to the area."
Otley's MP Greg Mulholland said: "I am delighted that common sense has prevailed and that this totally unsuitable development has been thrown out."
John Chippendale, of the Conserve Otley Riverside Campaign, said: "Setting aside the obvious - and we think insurmountable - flood plain objections, we will be very interested to see how the new planning application deals with all the other significant objections, such as the access road junction, impact on the riverside green corridor and inappropriate design and layout."
Planners added that the proposed transport and highways aspects of the scheme were unacceptable.
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