A PLANNING committee wants answers from the Environment Agency about what it will do to prevent flooding in the Aire Valley.

Frustrated councillors spoke out on Tuesday while considering an outline planning application to build up to 190 homes near a known flooding area in Silsden.

The regulatory and appeals committee had deferred a decision on the application in April, saying it needed more information about how the site, off Belton Road, had been affected by the devastating floods seen along the valley in December.

Developer Countryside Properties had undertaken extra work and provided more detail to the committee, which showed the development would not be at risk of flooding even in a 1 in 1,000-year flooding event.

The meeting heard there would be alleviation measures, such as large underground tanks, which would store excess water.

Steve Hughes, for Countryside Properties, said it took the flooding issue seriously.

He added: “If we didn’t have confidence in our proposals then, ultimately, we couldn’t sell the houses.”

But committee members spoke of their frustration the Environment Agency hadn’t yet spelt out what it is doing to reduce the risk of the floods being repeated.

Committee member, Cllr Alan Wainwright (Lab, Tong), said he felt sorry for the developer in this case.

He said: “I’m really, really not happy about it – about any development until we can get the River Aire sorted out.”

Fellow committee member Cllr Doreen Lee (Lab, Keighley East) said: "These particular gentlemen have done everything we have asked of them and I applaud them for that, but at the end of the day we still haven't got anything from the Environment Agency. It's crazy."

Ward councillor Andrew Mallinson (Con, Craven), who spoke neither for nor against the plan, said his main concern during a flood was sewage coming up pipes, saying that often happened before flood waters started lapping at people’s doors.

The committee agreed to grant outline consent for the use of the land for housing, with further details to come at a later stage.

But they asked senior officers to write a strongly-worded letter to the Environment Agency asking what action it planned to take in the area, along with an indicative timescale.

The development includes 20 per cent affordable housing, £100,000 towards a new footbridge to cross the A629 and £202,844 towards primary school places in the area.

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