LAST week we all saw the distressing effects of flooding on homes in Cumbria and Lancashire – can Cheshire learn anything from their catastrophic experience?

Outline planning permission was granted in November 2013 to build homes on the Dane Valley flood plain.

The current plan being proposed by David Wilson Homes but yet to be approved is to build 187 homes on the flood plain.

The plain flooded in 2007. The flood defences in Northwich town centre are being completed.

I, like most observers, would endorse the comments made by Cllr Andrew Cooper that the Environmental Agency and the developers should assess the the potential water displacement and impact on the Dane Valley.

Any homes built there are vulnerable to extreme risk.

I wonder if  buyers will be able to secure house and contents insurance?

The other major flaw with the Dane Valley as a site for homes is difficulty in access.

Last week the other part of the development arm Ainscough Strategic Land submitted plans for approval to create an additional road by knocking down 191 London Road and installing a fourth set of traffic lights at the Kingsmead London Road junction.

All this to service 187 houses.

The application was refused (nine votes against with one abstention) on the grounds of impact on residents' amenities and the conservation area.

The Dane Valley is a designated flood plain not a place for homes.

We need houses but in the right place. J K Wooldridge Northwich