Stilts plan for flood-hit Hereford home

Graham Bell has told council planners his current home is "effectively condemned" by repeated flooding

A man whose home has suffered "recurrent and devastating" floods is planning to replace it - with a new one on stilts.

Graham Bell's application says that the house on Greyfriars Avenue in Hereford has been "effectively condemned" by the frequency of floods from the River Wye.

The replacement house would use the ground level only for car storage, with living accommodation raised above it on columns.

A consultation on the plan is open until 1 February.

Mr Bell's planning application to Herefordshire Council says the house would sit on a similar footprint to the existing building, and “respect the proportions and scale” of the rest of the street.

He hopes the plan “will act as a catalyst for a resurrection of the street, which is currently facing unprecedented destruction as a result of extreme annual flooding”.

The proposed home would lift the living accommodation to first-floor level

The house is next to Hereford rowing club and the adjoining campsite on the banks of the Wye.

The Environment Agency says significant floods affected the Wye in Hereford twice in the last quarter of the 20th Century, but six times between 2000 and 2023.

The agency is investigating the possibility of a flood prevention scheme for the area.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.