Councillors urged to reject plans to build houses on site of former Doncaster ambulance station over flooding concerns

Applicant Lee Todd has applied to demolish the former St John ambulance station on Grange Road in Moorends in order to build five houses.

The demolition has already taken place ‘without planning permission,’ but this has been included retrospectively.

The application is being presented to the planning committee after being called in by councillor Joe Blackham and also due to the Environment Agency’s (EA) objection.

The objection from the EA surrounding flooding because the site falls into the highest risk category of Zone 3.

The Environment Agency were consulted as part of the application, who objected to the in October 2019 and required finished floor levels (FFL) of 4.4 metres above sea level.

After the applicant negotiated with the Environment Agency to suggest floor levels of 3 metres, the EA retained their objection in March 2020 as the floor levels were not raised in accordance with the required FFLs and the applicant did not give any justification or argument for not achieving 4.4 meters.

The EA have requested an amended FRA and detailed justification which was not provided.

If provided, they would consider this and ‘may be satisfied’ with a reduced FFL of 3.5 metres if it can be justified.

DMBC planning officer Roísín McFeely, said: “The application did seek full planning permission for the erection of six dwellings and the demolition of an existing former St John Ambulance building, associated access and parking but has since been amended to five dwellings.

“The proposal is considered to be unacceptable in terms of amenity and flood risk. This demonstrates the harm generated by the proposal through inappropriate development, which is not outweighed by other material planning considerations.

“Concerns remain in respect to flood mitigation measures and an objection to the scheme from the Environment Agency.”

Councillors will make the final decision at a planning meeting on Tuesday, September 14.

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