Plans for 45 houses in a village near Newtown have been approved

Plans to build 45 houses at Sarn near Newtown, including nine affordable homes, have been approved by councillors

But this decision has been made before further planning and sustainable drainage applications that explain how flooding issues at the site can be dealt with – have been submitted and approved.

The application submitted by Powys County Council to build a mixture of semi-detached, detached, terraces and bungalows as well as the associated infrastructure at land next to Shop Lane, Sarn, was discussed by councillors at a Planning committee meeting on Thursday, March 17.

Councillor Kath Roberts-Jones who represents the village spoke at the meeting and pointed out that the site is prone to flooding.

Cllr Roberts-Jones said: “This site is in a flood plain, and there have been a number of substantial floods in this part of Sarn.

“If anyone knows the area, this part of the village is in a bowl, consequently the rainwater from surrounding hills drains into the village and causes substantial flooding whenever we have any heavy rain.

“An occurrence that has increased hugely in recent years.

“Great care must be taken to take this into account.”

Cllr Hywel Lewis asked if any thought had been given  to raising the house levels in the “flood prone areas” to “make sure the houses don’t flood.”

Planning officer, Richard Evans told the committee that there was already a condition in place from the original outline planning approval that requires a “flood risk mitigation” planning application to be approved before building work starts.

“I will be expecting an application to be submitted and it will be reviewed,” said Mr Evans.

Cllr Linda Corfield: “I’m still not clear as to what will be done in respect to this surface water, it seems to be subject to a further application.”

Cllr Corfield asked for a more detailed explanation.

Graham Astley of Powys Council’s Sustainable Drainage Approval Board (SAB) said that a SuDS (sustainable drainage) application will need to be submitted for this site which would explain how surface water and flooding would be dealt with.

Mr Astley said: “What we don’t want is that this flood risk causes problems on site as well as off site

“At present we don’t have detail on how that will be achieved so there’s more work to be done.”

Cllr Corfield: “It would have been nice to know at this stage before we say yes or no that this had been resolved.”

Eventually councillors moved toward a vote.

The application was approved with 14 councillors voting for, one against and one abstention,

Outline planning permission for the scheme was granted back in September 2017 and plans came back in front of the committee as the application is deemed to be a “major” development by Powys council.