MILLIONS of pounds awarded to protect Heybridge from flooding has been lost after changes were made to plans for 1,100 homes.

Maldon District Council was handed the £7.3 million cash pot by the Government to bring forward a flood alleviation scheme.

Countryside Properties was expected to provide the scheme after getting permission for 1,100 homes forming the North Heybridge Garden Suburb in 2016.

But in May - just three months after the funding was awarded - the developer scrapped the flooding scheme, saying the £11 million price tag was too much.

Instead it has amended its plans to include a new drainage system.

Maldon District Council has now confirmed it will lose the Government cash as the scheme no longer exists.

At a full council meeting last week Miriam Lewis, who represents the Heybridge West ward, raised concerns about why the developer did not need to put in a new application.

She said: “Would [the leader] agree with me that in the benefit of public interest a new application would have been a more open and transparent approach?”

Council leader Adrian Fluker said Countryside Properties and the Environment Agency had mitigated any drainage problems and a flood scheme was no longer required.

He added: “Rest assured, we will deal with this properly and we will take legal advice.

“I advise that councillor Mrs Lewis attend a meeting with myself, plus the council and Countryside’s legal team so we can show her how it all will work.”

Countryside Properties will now provide 30 per cent affordable housing, instead of the approved 15.5 per cent.

Andrew Carrington, from the firm, said: “We believe that these amended plans represents a better solution for Heybridge, and are very much in line with the expressions of residents at our public exhibition.”

Maldon District Council statement

The key criterion for the HIF fund is to bring forward stalled sites.

Part of the proposed development for the North Heybridge Garden Suburb  initially included a flood alleviation scheme, as part of the development of 1,100 new homes. 

The Planning Application  has now been amended by Countryside Properties - the lead developer.

The amendment to their previous application, replaces the proposed flood alleviation scheme with on-site drainage. This means that without the associated cost of the previously planned infrastructure, the site is no longer stalled nor is there expected to be any compromise in complying with the Council’s policy requirements for affordable housing. 

This means that the development is no longer ‘stalled’ due to marginal viability and that the proposals for alleviating the risk of flooding to the wider area, as detailed in the three key stages of the HIF application, with the associated benefit of bringing forward additional homes and other amenities in the adjoining Causeway area, can no longer be delivered as planned.

As  this is no longer a stalled site, the Council is no longer eligible for the funding, and on that basis the Council has withdrawn their bid to Homes England.

Following the withdrawal of the bid to Homes England and subsequent discussions with MHCLG the Council remains hopeful that there will be new funding schemes, similar to HIF but to bring forward smaller sites.  

The Environment Agency is taking the lead, with the lead flood authority Essex County Council,  to look at alternative options for flood alleviation for Heybridge, and it is hoped that the current work will provide detailed options analysis in due course.