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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Flood plain homes 'not ruled out' | Flood plain homes 'not ruled out' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The government will continue to build houses on flood plains, as long as the "proper defences" are in place, says Housing Minister Yvette Cooper. | |
| The Tories say it will put more homes at risk, following extensive flooding in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. | |
| A draft of the Housing Green Paper, due to be published in full later, says it is "not realistic" to prevent all future development in flood-risk areas. | |
| Ms Cooper said house building critics were "playing politics" with floods. | |
| She told the BBC: "We've introduced very tough rules now to clamp down on house-building in very high flood risk areas." | |
| "Those are tougher than they've ever been." | |
| 'Proper protection' | |
| But she told the BBC that homes could still be built on flood plains: "I think the only thing we are saying is obviously you can't rule out new housing being built somewhere like the city of York which is in a flood plain. | |
| "You know it was built by the Romans in a flood plain. Downing Street - 10 Downing Street is in a flood plain. So if you've proper protection and if you've got proper defences in place, you know new homes have to be safe." | |
| This rush to build without thought is something that we will all regret Eric PicklesShadow communities secretary | |
| Ms Cooper has said the Environment Agency can stop new homes being built if they judged the flood risk to be too high and not acceptable. | |
| But 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 policy | |
| The draft document, leaked to the BBC, says that 10% of England's population lives in areas at risk of flooding and warns inappropriate development could "exacerbate flood risks". | |
| 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." |
| Parts of Worcestershire were badly hit by flooding | |
| 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". | 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." | 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." |
| 'Badly flooded' | |
| 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. | 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. |
| "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. | "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. |
| But with the scale of water we have seen coming out of the sky...even the best flood defences can be overwhelmed Hilary BennEnvironment secretary | |
| Meanwhile Environment Secretary Hilary Benn denied that cuts to the Environment Agency's budget were to blame for the effect of the flooding. | |
| He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the agency's capital budget for investment in flood defence had not been cut and over the past ten years its overall budget had increased from £300m to £600m. | |
| "The government recognises the need to invest more in flood defences," Mr Benn told the BBC. | |
| "But with the scale of water we have seen coming out of the sky...even the best flood defences can be overwhelmed." | |
| 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 later. | |