RESIDENTS say building 43 new houses in their village would put their homes at risk of flooding and rob them of their privacy.

Durham Villages Regeneration Company (DVRC) wants to build on land off Oakfield Crescent, in Bowburn.

Residents met DVRC representatives last week to voice their concerns. However, some remain unhappy.

Kim Parnaby said her garage had been flooded four times in two years and two-and-a-half storey homes would intrude onto bungalows like hers, on Oakfield Crescent.

Neighbour Caroline Barron, who has lived on the street for 20 years, said her garden had been flooded.

“We moved up here because it’s quiet and pleasant. The new houses would block the light.

“I can see woods now. Then all I would be looking at is houses,” she said.

Colin Reed, an Oakfield Crescent resident for 12 years, said Bowburn’s infrastructure could not cope with all the new houses built in recent years and called for a moratorium on any new development until it could be improved.

DVRC is a partnership between Durham County Council and developers Keepmoat, under which council-owned land is developed for housing.

More than 1,000 homes have been built over the last decade, with the proceeds ploughed into regeneration projects.

The Bowburn scheme would include seven two-bedroom, 25 three-bedroom and two four-bedroom homes for general sale and six two-bedroom and three three-bedroom affordable homes.

Ian Prescott, Keepmoat’s land and partnerships director in the North-East, said a field drain would be installed to reduce the risk of flooding and the scheme had been designed so that there would be no greater than the existing green field run off.

The proposals had been designed to the latest flood risk requirements and approved by Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency, he added.

On the privacy issue, Mr Prescott said the minimum distance between existing and new dwellings was in line with normal planning practice and he was confident no resident’s right to light would be breached.

A planning application has been submitted to Durham County Council and it is expected to come before a planning committee in July.