Shiplake residents 'devastated' by Taylor Wimpey site drainage plan

Unless Taylor Wimpey removes the water from its Thames Farm site, it cannot build homes there

Residents have said they are "devastated" by plans to drain water from a new housing site that could increase the flood risk to their homes.

Developer Taylor Wimpey wants to pump water from its Thames Farm site in Oxfordshire and discharge it 1.5km (0.9 miles) away into Lash Brook in Shiplake.

Parts of the village are already prone to flooding, say residents.

Taylor Wimpey said the drainage plans were a "work in progress".

The firm wants to discharge water 1.5km (0.9 miles) away into Lashbrook

The firm has outline planning permission for 95 homes at the Regency Place development but a geological survey has found potential sink holes.

Unless Taylor Wimpey removes the water from its site, it cannot build there.

Resident Nathalie McClure said: "I'm absolutely devastated. They are going to displace the problem, that they have, to someone else."

Kate Robinson said she was "really, really cross" with the plans.

"For them not to do their due diligence and divert the water down to here, into our Lash Brook, which will flood the village, is out of order," she said.

Others have called for the project to be aborted.

Parts of the village are already prone to flooding, say residents

In a statement, Taylor Wimpey said: "We can confirm the current drainage strategy is a work in progress.

"Following recent conversations with South Oxfordshire District Council, we will be carrying out further works to provide an addendum to the original flood risk assessment, based on the current proposal of the scheme."

South Oxfordshire District Council said it was aware of residents' concerns and said it had delayed making a decision on the current application until a detailed flood risk assessment was provided by Taylor Wimpey.

Once it is published, residents will have at least 14 days to comment before a decision is made.