VILLAGERS are warning the Duke of Northumberland that his plans to build 20 houses on green belt land he owns are fraught with risk.

The Duke’s Northumberland Estates are bidding to erect a mixture of houses and bungalows on a sloping field off Piper Road in the Tyne Valley village of Ovingham.

But the village is up in arms at the prospect and Hexham MP Guy Opperman is calling the plans into question.

Ovingham parish councillor Phil Holden, whose home on Piper Road overlooks the site, said: “There is an issue with flooding and that is a big concern.

“There have been numerous instances of flooding over the years and a lot of local residents are very worried about it.

“Extra building here would add to the flooding risk – one of the people living here was out of their home for about six months because of it.”

The parish council has made clear its objections and chair Margaret Turnbull said: “Another main objection after the flood risk is that we haven’t got the infrastructure for more houses. We have a small shop, two schools – a C of E and a Middle – and 20 houses is quite large.”

The loss of the green belt, an increasingly fraught issue in Northumberland, is also at the heart of objections.

Mr Opperman said: “Once again it is designated green belt. There are surely better places to put this housing, if a need is demonstrated, in this village?

“I would also question the location generally. It is on the side of farmland that is steep, wet and invariably prone to flooding. The drainage and sewerage system is not satisfactory at present, let alone with a further 20 houses.

“Representatives of Ovingham parish council, and locals, came to see me recently at a surgery and they were not clamouring for more housing, and they were most definitely not supporting the proposed housing in this place.”

Local resident Ken Rusby, who has undertaken a detailed study of the site, said the field and adjacent road had flooded on average once in each of the last 12 years.

He said: “In common with a lot of Ovingham, we are at the bottom of a steeply-sloped valley.

“I started taking figures, and it has happened approximately once a year since 2000. Work has been done on drainage systems but it has made no difference.

“The worst example was Thunder Thursday, on June 28 last year, when several houses were badly flooded, the water coming in the back doors and going out through the front doors.

“There are sewerage capacity problems and you can’t just plug in new housing willy-nilly.”

A Northumberland Estates spokesman said: “There will be no demonstrable harm on adjacent residents or the local environment should this application be approved.

“The scale, massing and design of the proposals fits in with the surroundings and are of a traditional design which does not look out of character. Nor does it have any impact in terms of the surrounding landscaping or location.”