The site of St Joseph's Upper School in Nythe Road, earmarked for housing but it could be at risk from floodingA HOUSING estate in Swindon is to be built on land that is considered a flood risk by the Environment Agency.

Insurance companies say it means buyers will struggle to get cover if they move to the proposed 246-home George Wimpey site and selling on could prove problematic.

The land for the housing development on the site of St Joseph's Upper School in Coleview, near the river Cole, has been listed by the Environment Agency as a "significant" risk the highest risk category there is since October.

George Wimpey, which has already bought the land and been given planning permission to build there, says the assessment is wrong.

But Greg Dawson, spokesman for Churchill home insurance, said: "We use the Environment Agency data and it is our policy not to provide business for new customers that are a flood risk.

"We will stand by existing customers in flood risk areas but we don't take new business.

"That is common practice among all home insurers."

Norwich Union spokesman David Ross, agreed that people buying properties there would have insurance problems.

Mr Ross said: "Most home insurers look to the Environment Agency for their data and if a postcode is under the flood warning, they will not insure you.

"At Norwich Union it is different because we will look at each house individually and differentiate between properties.

"But if you buy a house and the area is at risk of flooding, you are going to struggle to get insurance.

"If you live in a house that's 60 years old it's different but if you move to a new building, you will find it hard."

Estate agents in Swindon believe some house hunters would be put off by the fears of flooding.

Mark Reynolds director of Charles Harding, in Commercial Road, said: "If it was me buying, I would look to make my own further investigations as to how likely a flood was."

Mark Noble, partner at Castles in Commercial Road, said: "If buyers got the news that it was a flood risk, I think there's a percentage of buyers that would be put off."

Philip Andrews, from Philip Andrews Estate Agents and Valuers, in Devizes Road, said: "It probably would put some people off. It would probably affect the saleability to a degree."

Visitors to the Environment Agency's website can enter a postcode to check if an area is at risk.

Emma Cassidy from the Agency said: "It's important that people sit up and take notice.

"Those maps are not wrong they are based on the most up to date information we have.

"We are a very skilled organisation and we have an awful lot of information here. To ignore it is not a wise decision. Flooding is not an exact science but it's a map of the best available data that we have."

'They've made a mistake'

Ria Stevenson, spokesperson for developers, George Wimpey, said: "George Wimpey South West works in close partnership with the Environment Agency and the local planning authorities when progressing every new residential development project.

"The EA and LPAs will not allow any new residential development on any land identified as a floodplain by the EA.

"While St Joseph's is shown on the EA website as being within a floodplain area, intensive investigation has revealed that the EA website is incorrect and it has been agreed that this specific area is outside a floodplain area, which is instead contained within, or near to, the banks of the River Ray.

"Following consultation with the EA, the LPA has already granted planning permission for George Wimpey South West to construct a bridge at St Joseph's."

'They are professionals'

St Joseph's Upper School headteacher Peter Wells was confident the housing company would have explored all avenues before purchasing the land.

He said: "From the school's view the land has been sold and I am sure Wimpey have taken note of the topography of the land.

"They are a professional company who build houses all over the country."

The upper school at Coleview is closing and pupils there will be transferred to the main school's Queen's Drive site, which is undergoing a £17 million development.

Swindon Borough Council spokesman Gavin Calthrop said: "If there were any concerns in the first place the application would not have got planning permission.

"The developers would have had to satisfy the requirements of the application."

Gareth Bethell