RECENT deluges have led to the worst flooding one resident has ever seen on land earmarked for a controversial new estate in Petersfield.

Since it was suggested that houses should be built on land at Causeway Farm, there have been fears a new estate could cause flooding, both to any new houses, and existing homes on The Causeway.

Maureen Willett has lived on The Causeway by the entrance to Cranford Road for eight years and is opposed to plans for 200 houses on 12 hectares of the farm fields.

She said: “When it rains a puddle often appears where the entrance track to the land joins The Causeway. But the latest one was the biggest I have seen.

“The fields get marshy in the winter, if anyone walks there they should take a mobile phone in case they get stuck. This year paths from the entrance up behind Broadway Park homes have been shut for a fortnight.

“The name ‘The Causeway’ is a giveaway; the road was a causeway between fields that flood, it’s crazy considering building on the fields, especially as there’s a stream that runs through them.” Plans for the estate on almost 12 hectares of Causeway Farm were submitted by David Wilson Homes and Bovis Homes last November to South Downs National Park Authority planners.

At about the same time residents agreed by referendum that the Petersfield Neighbourhood Plan should be adopted. The plan is a guide setting out how the town should grow, and recommends the Causeway Farm site is suitable for 200 houses. The watercourse through the farm land, called Criddell Stream, flows under The Causeway by its junction with Sussex Road, alongside Tesco and into water meadows between Borough Road and Grange Road.

Mrs Willett said: “The water meadows have been flooded for some time now.

“If the new estate happens there has been talk of excess water being contained in holding tanks and released in a controlled way – but what happens if they overflow?

“The recent rain has caused flooding problems for homes that back on to the fields, so surely run off from a new estate would cause even more problems.”

Planners have yet to give a date for a decision on the proposed estate