Housing development causing 'nightmare' flooding
LDRSA homeowner has said he is in a "nightmare" dispute over a development he claims has caused flooding.
Matt Batchelor said planning conditions for the Ings Mews scheme in Redcar were inadequate and not properly managed by Redcar and Cleveland Council.
He said an access road to the site, which includes four semi-detached homes and one detached property, "turned into a lake" when it rained and that poor drainage had led to his garage flooding.
The council has begun enforcement action over the road, which must be resurfaced, but said it had no jurisdiction over drainage on the private access, which will not be adopted.
Batchelor said he had been unable to obtain insurance details from the developer, who is based abroad, to make a claim or put a party wall agreement in place.
"We went from no problems before this scheme started to now my garage floods and there is standing water permanently on the access road," he said.
"When they approved the project the council did not do what it should have done and assessed it properly."
Emails seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show a planning enforcement officer initially suggested some conditions should not have been discharged due to "clearly insufficient information", although this was later dismissed by the council.
'End of tether'
Neighbour Cheryl Jane said the drainage on the access road was "horrific" and at times she had been unable to get her car out of her garage.
West Dyke councillor, Chris Jones, said Batchelor had suffered "two years of misery" and that he was "at the end of his tether".
A council spokesman said planning permission was granted subject to conditions in 2019, with conditions discharged in 2022.
The site was inspected 11 times before completion in April 2024.
"Since the access road to serve the development is to remain a private road, it will not be adopted by the local highway authority.
"The developer is not required to meet the council's adopted design guide.
"Given this, the specification in terms of the new surface treatment and associated surface water drainage is a matter for them, subject to any other required approvals such as connections to the mains drainage system and approval from Northumbrian Water."
The council said the issue of surface water was a civil matter between landowners and that its legal powers were limited.
Batchelor said he had submitted data access requests as part of a potential complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.