Ickford: Flood Risk

Greg Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

I wish to make the case for a complete and total overhaul of the way in which flood risk is assessed and taken seriously in the planning process, using the circumstances of the village of Ickford in my constituency as a case study to highlight the horrendous deficiencies in the system as it stands.

I need not remind the House that the devastating effects of flooding can be seen year on year. The Environment Agency’s October 2021 report projects that double the number of properties in England will be on floodplains by 2065. New build housing increases the risk, further exacerbating the issue. Four million people and £200 billion-worth of assets are at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The effect of flooding, not only economically but traumatically, on individuals, families and businesses is both terrible and long-lasting. Flooding goes right to the heart of our communities. It is a risk that must be taken seriously and that I know the Government want to take it seriously.

Acting ahead of a flood event is the most effective way to reduce the risk of flood-water damage. Typical improvements include low-cost resilience measures such as upgrades to plaster and flooring, self-closing air bricks, the sealing of brickwork and the installation of flood doors—all proven to reduce damage from flooding. Fundamentally, though, we must ask ourselves how on earth new build homes are granted planning permission in areas where literally everyone—other than, it seems the authorities—sees that it is obvious they will flood or exacerbate the risk of flooding to existing homes and businesses.

We need—in fact, communities across my constituency demand—much greater consideration of flood risk in the planning process. That is principally what I am arguing for: amendments to planning laws that will force the system properly to undertake flood risks, and changes that mean decisions on development are taken as locally as possible and that make flood risk a central principle in any new planning legislation.

We need to ensure that developers and the construction industry do not add to the problem and that local authorities do not see building on flood-prone areas as an easy way to meet housing quotas. This need was made urgently apparent to me as a result of events in the village of Ickford in my constituency.

In August 2020, a development of 66 properties in the village of Ickford, now being built out by Deanfield Homes, but started by CALA Homes, was given permission by the planning inspector. It was an absolutely ridiculous decision given that part of the rationale was a totally bogus and irrational claim that flooding would not be an issue. Residents of Ickford were told that flooding would be a once-in-100-year occurrence, which was an offensive claim given the number of times that the village has flooded in the past 18 months alone. Indeed, when I visited the site in January this year, half the site was substantially under water. I am not talking about a couple of small puddles or a patch of lakeing, but widespread, deep flooding.

More than 80 residents of this beautiful small Buckinghamshire village objected to the development, and their main objections were all consistent. Their primary complaint was flood risk. As I have said, the village already floods frequently during periods of heavy rain due to surface water run-off, and the development site is higher than most of the village. Much of the lower areas are in the flood plain of the River Thame. Even now, quite amazingly, Deanfield Homes, the developer, has not accepted the indisputable proof that the development site floods. Or has it? For when I was standing in the flooded waters of Ickford, I was not the only one seeking a solution. Of course, my solution was simple—do not build on this field, but the developer seemingly had different ideas. “If you build it, they will come” has suspiciously become, “If you raise it up, they will still sell.” A field of dreams is becoming a field of nightmares for the villagers.

Indeed it is beyond parody that, while continuing the public “It’ll be fine” narrative on flooding, the developer is in fact now building those homes 1.1 metres higher than planning permission was previously given for, and we can all guess why. Residents have told me—and I have witnessed it—that lorries full of aggregate and hardcore are being delivered throughout the day, mounting curbs and putting children on their way to school in danger. Building that site so much higher means that Ickford has a new development on an island, which makes the threat of flooding to the rest of the village, especially properties on Worminghall Road and Golders Close, extremely high.

The developer’s new sparkly CGI graphics boards on the entrance to the development even show the rear gardens with huge grass slopes, which means that all surface water will now flow directly towards the existing housing. It is not even trying to hide it. I have suggested to the developer that if it is so confident that flooding will not be a problem, it should build a tanked brick wall around the development, but so far there has been no response and no agreement to my request for a meeting.

What the developer has done is to alleviate the situation for itself but compound it for the rest of the village. This is equally all part of the blatant disregard it has for the village that it is devastating. The impact on biodiversity, for example, has been equally staggering. Residents have shared with me images of trees being cut down and hedges removed despite being protected, and the developer is not willing to hear their concerns.

Compounding the issues, the village also has an inadequate sewerage system. During periods of heavy rain, the Thames Water network simply cannot cope due to surface water ingress, so raw sewage bubbles up into the roads. I have been pushing Thames Water for a solution. To be fair, it agrees that something needs to be done, but no works have yet taken place. I am sorry to say that the chief objections about flooding and sewage were laid aside as part of the planning process.

I have been told by residents who attended that the inspector’s hearing was conducted in such a way that the inspector failed almost completely to control the hectoring by the developer. At the outset, residents were allowed only to make brief speeches in support of their objections, and were shouted down. The residents who attended left the hearing in a state of shock at such an undemocratic process, and went home utterly disheartened. The inspector did visit the village on the last day of the hearing and talked to a few residents, but from his report it is clear that he paid scant regard to their concerns, although he did pay lip service to them.

Surely when any planning application comes forward we must put local people at the heart of flood risk assessment. Those who live and work in an area know exactly what happens in heavy rainfall or even light rainfall—not some bureaucrat perusing Google Maps.

Sadly, the inspector’s report, which was published in August, granted permission for the development. Residents who had opposed the development launched a campaign to protect the village; they called it the Ickford Residents Group. The group sought legal advice, but learned that because their main objections had been set aside, they could not challenge the inspector’s decision with any hope of success. Since that time, the group has been proved right, beyond any shadow of a doubt; all its objections were valid. Thames Water has accepted that its advice at the time was wrong and is carrying out reviews, but despite constant pressure from myself and residents, we have seen no action. The group has also campaigned to obtain reforms to the processes so that other localities may not suffer as Ickford’s residents have done.

On behalf of Ickford residents—and indeed all communities threatened by flooding and rogue developers —I am today calling for the way in which flood risk is assessed as part of the planning process to be seriously beefed up. My view is simple: we cannot keep building homes in areas liable to flooding. It will just keep making matters worse. Change is needed, and needed urgently.

First, the Government should, as part of its review of planning policy, establish to what extent flood risk is increased by the lack of scrutiny given to the cumulative impacts of smaller and permitted developments. A stronger and direct presumption against developments in floodplains is also needed. This requires changes to the national planning policy framework to close loopholes that allow developments in flood risk areas.

Consideration must also be given to future insurance costs in planning and development decisions. Mortgage lenders in the UK generally require mortgage holders to purchase buildings insurance that includes cover for flooding. Therefore, if new homes do not provide an appropriate standard of genuine and real flood mitigation, the ability to get insurance cover, and for people to become homeowners, will be diminished.

New standards could be set through building regulations that build on the industry code of practice for property flood resilience. Other measures, such as flood performance certificates, should also be considered to incentivise responsible development planning and property flood resilience measures. I fear that additional spending on flood risk management will equally be required, and flood resilience measures need to be incentivised.

The village of Ickford illustrates the incredible inequality that is created when developers with very deep pockets come up against councils and local residents. Unless proposed reforms can overcome this undemocratic situation, the unfairness will continue unabated. The setting aside of Ickford’s residents’ chief concerns was due to an almost complete lack of local knowledge, or testing of that knowledge, by the authorities involved. We simply must make improvements.

As I said earlier, every single one of the concerns residents set out has proved to be real. Ickford was devastated by floods last winter and part of the land that developers are building on was flooded. The claim of a once-in-100-years occurrence almost became once a week in reality. We simply have to look at this again. We have to learn the lessons of what we have seen in the village of Ickford, understand the threat that the existing home owners and existing properties in that village now face from this new development, and ensure that it can never happen to any other village—or town, city or hamlet—in our country ever again.