A COUNCILLOR wants a halt to all new housing developments in the Maple Grove area of March until a flooding problem is solved. Gardens are under water and water has found its way into sheds and is making some homes damp, says Councillor John West. He want

A COUNCILLOR wants a halt to all new housing developments in the Maple Grove area of March until a flooding problem is solved.

Gardens are under water and water has found its way into sheds and is making some homes damp, says Councillor John West.

He wants Fenland District Council to stop any building work going ahead on land at the back of the homes in Wisbech Road.

There are two plots with planning consent but Cllr West says there is confusion over who actually owns the dykes which run along the back of the land.

"If this goes ahead the people of Maple Grove will suffer," he said. "We should also warn the people who might live in these houses what they are getting into. These people are being sold plots of land with planning permission and they have no idea what the situation is. It is a mini flood plain and you cannot build on it.

"It is a case of lack of local knowledge. The council should take notice of people like me who have lived here all their lives."

Derek Shaw looks after the garden of his neighbour, Peggy Hart in Maple Grove. The former head groundsman for Cambridgeshire County Council says flooding has been a problem since the bottom of the dyke was dug out.

He said: "Whoever took the bottom of the dyke out needs to put it back the way it was. Who gave permission for it to be done? The water used to run out and away but now it takes the easy way out and collects here.

"Mrs Hart has lived here for 50 years and she sits inside crying. The land is sour because it has been waterlogged for 12 months. It wouldn't even grow a potato it is so bad.