Councillors have refused to support plans to build 33 new homes on the edge of Leverington.

One councillor said there was “no way” they could support the proposals after hearing concerns had been raised about flooding and highway safety.

Plans had been put forward to build the new homes on a field west of Sutton Road in Leverington.

The outline application followed similar proposals that were refused by Fenland District Council back in 2019.

Concerns about the latest application had been raised by the highways authority over the safety of the new access road proposed from Sutton Road to the development site.

Highways officers said they believed the proposed development would have an “unacceptable impact on highway safety”.

They said it was “unclear” how the new access road would be built to make sure it did not undermine the safety of those accessing neighbouring properties.

They also highlighted that the proposed access road narrowed to a pinch point on the way into the development, adding that the developer had not shown emergency vehicles would be able to get through.

Gareth Edwards, a representative of the developer, told councillors at a planning committee meeting on September 18 that they believed there was an “engineered solution available” to address the concerns raised by the highways authority.

They said this could be investigated and worked until it met highway officers’ approval.

Concerns were also raised that part of the site was within flood zone three, meaning it was at the highest risk of flooding.

Mr Edwards said a sequential test had been completed to see if there was other land available in Leverington, where the homes could be built, that was at a lower risk of flooding.

However, they said there were no other options available for the development.

Planning officers highlighted that while the proposed development was in Leverington, it was also right on the edge of Wisbech.

They said the developer only looked for land at a lower risk of flooding within the village, but said they believed a wider area including Wisbech should have been looked at instead.

Mr Edwards said the proposed development’s address was in Leverington, which is why they had only looked at land in the village.

Councillors considering the application said they agreed with the officer’s recommendation that the application should be refused.

Councillor Jan French said: “I think with the report we have got in front of us and what we have heard today, there is no way I can support this application.”

Councillor Charlie Marks said he agreed adding that the highways concerns were “quite serious”.

The committee voted unanimously to refuse the application.