A DEVELOPMENT of 24 houses has been approved in Bridestowe, despite concerns from residents about flooding.

A meeting of the development control and licensing committee heard on Tuesday last week that the development would take the number of houses on the existing site to 50, with access being along a narrow twisting road through the estate.

Bridestowe parish councillor Bill Thirtle told the meeting that the Town Meadows site had a ‘chicane-like approach’ and that ‘gardens within the existing development were rendered unusable for most of the year’.

However councillors approved the application after hearing that the extension to the Town Meadows estate will provide nine affordable homes for the community, a mixture of flats and houses.

Bridestowe borough councillor Caroline Mott ‘reluctantly’ voted in favour of the application, while the village’s other borough councillor John Hockridge voted against.

Seven councillors voted in favour and three against, with the proviso that residents will have to apply for planning permission if they want to build an extension or patio.

People in the existing homes on the Town Meadow site have reported water-logging in their gardens.