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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Flood plain homes 'not ruled out' | Flood plain homes 'not ruled out' |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The government is expected to announce on Monday that it is rejecting calls to stop building houses on flood plains, despite the recent extensive flooding. | |
| A draft of the Housing Green Paper, dated 18 July, was leaked to the BBC ahead of of its formal publication. | |
| The document suggests it is "not realistic" to prevent all future development in flood-risk areas. | |
| The government has refused to comment on the document but said it would hold an inquiry into the leak. | |
| The Tories said building on flood plains would put more homes at risk. | The Tories said building on flood plains would put more homes at risk. |
| Shadow communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles said: "Gordon Brown has to accept the inconvenient truth that if you build houses on flood plains it increases the likelihood that people will be flooded. | Shadow communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles said: "Gordon Brown has to accept the inconvenient truth that if you build houses on flood plains it increases the likelihood that people will be flooded. |
| "This rush to build without thought is something that we will all regret." | "This rush to build without thought is something that we will all regret." |
| 'Robust planning' | 'Robust planning' |
| The draft document says that 10% of England's population lives in areas at risk of flooding and warns inappropriate development could "exacerbate flood risks". | The draft document says that 10% of England's population lives in areas at risk of flooding and warns inappropriate development could "exacerbate flood risks". |
| I've seen houses that have been very badly flooded in Cheltenham which were basically built on the course of brooks Martin Horwood, Liberal Democrat MP | |
| But it goes on: "While physical defences remain the central defence for managing flood risk, flood defence infrastructure cannot be continuously expanded." | But it goes on: "While physical defences remain the central defence for managing flood risk, flood defence infrastructure cannot be continuously expanded." |
| It says councils must put in place "robust planning policy" that takes into account a possible increase in rainfall in the future due to climate change. | It says councils must put in place "robust planning policy" that takes into account a possible increase in rainfall in the future due to climate change. |
| The Conservative MP for Tewkesbury, Lawrence Robertson, said plans to build extra houses north of Gloucester and Cheltenham were "absolute madness". | |
| He said: "Let me make this direct statement now - if we go ahead with that at some stage in the future people will lose their lives... if we go ahead with that kind of building." | |
| Martin Horwood, Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, says the problems of the past few days means any building plans for the future must be reviewed. | |
| "The points about future policy on things like house-building... just have to be stopped and thought about now. | |
| New homes planned | |
| "I've seen houses that have been very badly flooded in Cheltenham which were basically built on the course of brooks. Those looked harmless enough when there weren't floods around," he said. | |
| Gordon Brown has said he wants to build three million new homes by 2020 and pledged to ensure that 70,000 constructed each year are affordable. | Gordon Brown has said he wants to build three million new homes by 2020 and pledged to ensure that 70,000 constructed each year are affordable. |
| The Green Paper will be formally published by Housing Minister Yvette Cooper. | |
| A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "We don't comment on leaks. | |
| "We asked the BBC to wait for the actual Green Paper's publication in Parliament, rather than reporting on an earlier draft." |