Broughton Astley cannot safely receive another round of housing development until infrastructure constraints are properly resolved.

Broughton Astley is a low-lying village with a watercourse running through the centre, where natural gradients already cause water to pool and rise. Existing infrastructure is under strain and can no longer fully safeguard residents from the effects of intense rainfall or the uncertainties brought about by climate change.

Drainage limitations, an overstretched sewerage system and the increasing bottlenecking of rainwater into the watercourse mean that both pluvial and fluvial flooding have already seriously affected the lives of many residents. There has been repeated flooding in specific areas, with water spilling into gardens, outbuildings and homes.

Available data and correspondence confirms that the treatment works is at capacity and the frequency of sewage spills into the watercourse is too high. Residents’ health and well-being, as well as the life of anything trying to exist within or downstream from the brook is already jeopardised!

Drainage and sewage infrastructure must come first.