A MAN living next to a Silsden site earmarked for a major new housing development fears his properties will suffer even worse flooding in future if construction goes ahead.

Ian Boulton, of Keighley Road, owns six houses in this area and five of them – including the property in which he lives – were flooded on Boxing Day last year.

He said if development takes place on the nearby former Riverside Works site he and his neighbours could end up having to cope with even more flood water spilling onto their land from Silsden Beck.

He pointed out that his truck was submerged up to its wheel arches last Boxing Day, while it was parked next to and on the same level as land designated for the new houses.

Bradford Council gave outline permission for the 142-house Riverside Works development earlier this month, (Oct) with planning officers saying concerns about flooding would need to be addressed within any future, detailed planning applications.

The site is between Keighley road and Sykes Lane. A warehouse which used to occupy this land was demolished, and previous plans to build a Tesco Supermarket on the site have fallen through,

Mr Boulton, who works as a builder and has lived in Silsden for 40 years, said: "There has been more and more development in the Aire Valley, including the trunk road itself, which is on land previously used as a flood plain.

"The new Silsden Aldi supermarket car park was flooded only eight months after it opened.

"Most winters the fields off Belton Road resemble Windermere, with water spreading across the Aire Valley. This is a growing concern for local members of the public.

"Not only are the becks unable to cope with the volume of water, but I've seen the towpath on the canal under six inches of water in previous years.

"I'm worried that a problem of sewage coming up through my downstairs toilet will get even worse.

"The flood defences which have been built so far aren't stopping the water, they are just diverting it towards my land."

Mr Boulton has been working on raising the ground floor level of some of his properties to try and defend against future flooding.

He said even if the Riverside Works developer does offer Section 106 money to improve local infrastructure, this would not be enough to offset the damage caused by floods.

He warned that building on flood plains in the Silsden area will mean further problems downstream along the banks of the Aire in Keighley, Shipley, Saltaire and Leeds.

The Keighley News contacted the developer's agent for a comment, but had received no response by the time the paper went to print.