Remove this site from the proposed Replacement Local Development Plan

The stretch of Aber Road immediately adjacent to this site has increasingly been subject to significant flooding as a result of surface water run-off from within the catchment. This has been exacerbated by limited capacity within a culverted watercourse traversing the site. During flooding events, Aber Road has become impassable to residents and emergency services and has resulted in considerable flood damage to properties to the north of the highway. Despite remedial works being undertaken by the Council, the flooding events have continued, and are becoming more frequent. In its current state, the proposed development site will naturally reduce the impact of less intense rainfall through percolation, however creating large areas of impermeable surface will reduce this capacity, and combined with the impacts of increased rainfall associated with climate change, will inevitably exacerbate the existing flood risks. Whilst the site itself is likely to be located within a Development Advice Map Zone A (and not itself at risk from flooding), the impacts for off-site flooding cannot be ignored, and Technical Advice Note 15 (paragraph 10.4) states that " ....flood risk will be a material factor in the formulation of specific policies and allocation of sites". Although the public consultation referred to Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), and in view of the scale of the proposed development, it is considered essential that this is an issue that needs to be addressed prior to formal allocation of this site with the Local Development Plan. As such, allocation of the site at this stage is considered premature.