Reader TTS

Leicestershire residents have said they fear more house building in their area could create a "flooding time-bomb" on their doorsteps. Concerns have heightened even further for

those on the Newton Lane Estate in Wigston after "gushing" floodwater took hold last month. Residents have spoken out in the aftermath of the floods which hit Leicestershire far

and wide in January. At the height of the devastation, one resident said that as waters rose, "within 10 minutes water was beginning to come into the house". The situation has left

many wondering what measures are being put in place to prevent future occurrences amid proposals for more housing from the borough's Local Plan. Gareth Wilson, who grew up on the

1980s-built Wigston Meadows Estate which adjoins the Newton Lane Estate, is especially worried as the estate was built with a stream running through it. The 40-year-old said: "When it

was just fields, this stream could overflow, but there'd be nothing there for it to damage. Now, you've got this new estate and you've got tarmac and so the water is just

flowing like a river. I can remember since I was a kid, this area was quite notorious for flooding, but there was no housing there." READ MORE: Bid to open children's home in

Leicestershire town refused He continued: "It was just like a natural floodplain. Now they're proposing housing, pretty much all the way across that basin area, which is either

side of the street. They're creating a time bomb, a flooding time bomb. "There just seems to be this kind of myopic drive to build as many houses as possible, as quickly as

possible. This leads to trouble being stored up for the future. " MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Neil O’Brien has called for funding to help those impacted by the floods. Speaking

in the House of Commons, he said: "I am pressing ministers to open up funding from the Flood Recovery fund - we opened it last year after storms Babet and Henk and I am pressing the

new government to do the same. The fund gives grants of up to £5,000 per household to help protect homes." LeicestershireLive spoke to one resident and her father, who wished to remain

anonymous, after they experienced flooding inside their home on the corner of Wigston's Admiral Close and Clayhill Fields. She said the floods covered the whole of the downstairs of her

property with about three inches of water. The 67-year-old father said it all happened at around 5am. He said: "I was just getting ready to drop my daughter off at the coach station to

go to work. I saw the level of the water in the brook rise up and within 10 minutes, it was beginning to come into the house from the front door. The water just gushed down towards the

door." The 32-year-old daughter said: "We just grabbed the bed sheets and duvet covers to try and stem the flow. The water came in from both sides, the back door and the front

door. It's been really traumatic, and this was so preventable, it didn't need to happen. It will take months to fix it. Nothing seems to have been done that we can see to try and

prevent another occurrence." Another impacted resident is Kerry Tansey who lives in Primrose Wray, which is between Newton Lane and Cooks Lane on the estate. She said the water did not

go into her home but completely surrounded it. She said: "It flooded right through the middle of the estate and onto Newton Lane. The 43-year-old, whose son is disabled, said: "We

go everywhere in the car because we always need lots of changing things and stuff like that. We were trapped in the house, I couldn't actually get off the estate by car. As well as the

inconvenience of the water, it's the mess it leaves behind as well. There's rubbish all over the road and everything. I grew up on the estate and can never remember floods like

this." A spokesperson for Barratt Homes North Midlands and David Wilson Homes East Midlands said: “We prepare Flood Risk Assessments and work up mitigation proposals on all our sites,

and it will have been designated as suitable for development by both the local planning authority and the Environment Agency. “On this occasion, severe weather conditions caused extreme

flooding throughout Wigston and the wider Leicestershire area at the beginning of January. We investigated the issue at our development on Monday, January 6 and found a large tree trunk had

entered a ditch and restricted the flow of water. "In addition, the runoff water from the farmland on the opposite side of the road discharges through a culvert under Newton Lane and

there is no grille preventing debris flowing into our development. We cleared the blockage, and the ditch was back to normal water levels within two hours." For those suffering with

internal flooding, the spokesperson said: “When the customer’s issue was reported, we visited their home to help remove the water, lift the carpet and install a dehumidifier while we

investigated the cause of the flooding. We are liaising with the customer and are happy to assist with their insurance claim.” Adrian Thorpe, head of built environment at Oadby & Wigston

Borough Council, said: “My heartfelt sympathies go out to all those in Leicestershire that fell victim to the flooding we saw earlier in January. As with any flooding incident, it is

impossible to point the finger at one cause. We know that melting snow, frozen ground and heavy rainfall combined to play a significant part in the flooding we saw earlier this month. “Oadby

& Wigston has a robust Local Plan which is informed by a strategic flood risk assessment of the borough, that helps to direct housing allocations towards low flood risk areas, as well

as ensure new buildings do not exacerbate the environmental causes of flooding. We also consult with the lead local flood authority, Leicestershire County Council, and the Environment Agency

on all relevant housing applications to ensure that new homes do not increase the risk of flooding.” A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry to hear about the surface water

flooding issues in Wigston Meadows. As this is a new build development and we haven’t yet adopted these sewers into our network, any issues would currently need to be addressed by the

developer. "While water companies can raise concerns and request changes to planning applications for new developments, we have no say as to whether a development can go ahead or not.

However, we look into what impact any new developments may have on our network, and if we feel there are any concerns, we will discuss this with the developer, while considering if any

network upgrades are needed.” A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said the brook was not in its remit as it was "not classified as a main river". They said the agency only

looks after "main rivers".