Attenuation Basin for South Road Development

Flood Risk & Drainage Assessment

The Planning Application (19/00790/REM) for a development of up to 55 dwellings on Land South East Of The Shoulder Of Mutton has not yet been decided.

(See details about application 19/00790/REM here)

A new Flood Risk & Drainage Assessment for this development was added to Public Access on January 13th.

This replaces the original Flood Risk & Drainage Assessment from March 5th 2019.

The new report proposes the construction of a large drainage basin in the field to the east of the site, sized to provide storage for a 1 in 100-year + 40% flood event (known as “an attenuation basin”).

This principle is now standard on all new developments that create hard surfaces where once were soft ground.

This basin is outside the area approved for development, and is in the proposed Green Belt extension, so requires a new public consultation..

The proposal is to discharge the surface water flows from the development into the drainage basin and then "into an existing watercourse leading to Paxtondean Burn".

This "existing watercourse" is a shallow ditch in Old Church Wood - shown as a black line on the plans.

The plans show the ditch running south and then under the footpath by the entrance to Old Church Wood,

The plans then show the ditch turning west towards the bus shelter - but that would take the water uphill.

There is a ditch running south in the direction of Paxtondean Burn but this is not shown on the plans and does not lead to Paxtondean Burn.

The new drainage system will be designed to maintain a steady flow of 8.7 litres/second - the report does not provide any evidence that the ditch can cope with this amount of water.

The height of the crest of the basin sourround will be up to 2.5m above the base of the basin.

See the new report here, which includes details of the area of the new basin and the construction details.

Planning Application

The construction of this attenuation basin is covered by a new Planning Application - 20/00107/FUL - Creation of an attenuation basin associated with planning application 19/00790/REM.

To view the detailed plans go the Public Access system and search for 20/00107/FUL

Public Access shows the application as being validated on January 14th but it was not posted till w/c January 27th.

Public Access includes a plan described as 'Pond Sections' but as of Feb 12th this is not the Pond Sections but a repeat of the Location Plan.

The Parish Council have repeatedly asked for the Pond Sections plan to be posted on Public Access.

Public Access shows 'Parish Council Comments' that were not a Consultee Response but an email pointing out the lack of information.

This new Planning Application gives no indication of what the basin will look like but it will be visible from the houses on the south side of East Road and from the Old Church Wood.

This is our unofficial plan of the route the water takes:

These extracts from the Pond Section plans were scanned from the Parish Council's paper copy - click to view full screen.

Commenting on the Application

If you want to comment on this application you can do so by Wednesday February 19th 2020 (although we understand that the consultation date is being extended a little due to the problems with the documents):

online - go to the Public Access system and search for 20/00107/FUL

by post - Central Registry Team, Development Management, NCC Planning Department, County Hall, Morpeth NE61 2EF

by email - planningcomments@northumberland.gov.uk

If you comment by post or by email, you must include the planning application reference number (20/00107/FUL), your name, full postal address and contact details (email address or phone number).