Flood victim set to return home after two years

A grandfather who was forced out of his home nearly two years ago after workers damaged a mains water pipe has questioned why planning permission was ever granted for the development.

John Coyne's house in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, was one of a number of homes flooded by a huge plume of water from a pipe damaged during construction of new student accommodation on 7 March 2023.

Mr Coyne and his wife Julie are hoping to move home this month, but has questioned why the development was allowed in the first place.

But the planning authority Broxtowe Borough Council and planning agents say there was no valid reason to prevent building on the site.

Mr Coyne said he believes "people should be more accountable" for what happened.

He added: "There were huge failings, negligence, incompetence that led to the event in the first place and that anger hasn't subsided."

Mr Coyne said said he believed an insurance claim for the water damage to his house cost about £250,000.

"The contractors have done a marvellous job of putting it back almost exactly as it was before we left," he said.

"We never anticipated we'd have two Christmases out of [our] home."

A Health and Safety Executive investigation into whether any regulations had been broken on the construction site was completed in January 2024, with no further action being taken.

Broxtowe Borough Council said issues such as drainage, sewerage and gas connections were not a matter for the local authority's planning department and instead for the "contractor and for the relevant building control provider to assess and deal with during construction".

A spokesperson for the council said: "Severn Trent Water were consulted on all applications on this site.

"They raised no objection to the development that obtained planning permission.

"All advisory notes from Severn Trent that the council received for the relevant schemes were passed on to the developer."

A spokesperson for Freeths, the planning agent for the developer of the site said: "The presence of a water main on site does not stop the grant of planning permission as water pipes and sewers are often diverted to facilitate development.

"Any property law rights in respect of the presence of such infrastructure are governed by separate legislation and therefore it is something that would take place after planning permission is granted during the construction phase."

The BBC has contacted the site's developers the ALB Group.

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