Calderdale Council to review housing plans after flooding

The Council is currently considering which sites to include and a report for councillors said the authority “will now need to revisit this exercise because our understanding of risk levels in different parts of the [Calder]valley is very likely to change”.

The report said: “The impact of the flooding has important implications for future development in Calderdale.

“The Local Plan will set out allocations for new housing and employment development, and provide policies against which planning applications will be assessed.

“Calderdale is part way through the process of filtering a large number of options in order to identify which sites should be taken forward to formal consultation in the Autumn of 2016.

“Flood risk was already an important criterion in this filtering process; however, officers will now need to revisit this exercise because our understanding of risk levels in different parts of the valley is very likely to change.

“Officers will also be looking carefully at our written policies to ensure that they address matters like climate change, sustainable drainage and flood resilience in a robust manner.”

Local Government Secretary Greg Clark has told councils to produce local plans by next year identifying land to meet housing needs for the next 15 years.

Coun Barry Collins, the cabinet member for regeneration, said: “We will continue to carefully consider the implications of flooding as the Local Plan progresses towards adoption in late 2017, and when assessing planning applications.”

A Leeds City Council spokeswoman said it was working with the Environment Agency to ensure “concerns that they may have on individual sites, including those affected by the recent floods, are fully taken into account.”

Neil Ferris, York Council’s acting director of city and environmental services, said the local plan was an “evolving document” that would be changed to take new information into account.