Plan for new flood-proof house in Hereford street by river Wye

Graham Bell of 32 Greyfriars Avenue, beside Hereford Rowing Club and its adjoining campsite, says in his application for planning permission (numbered 233643; comments until February 1) that his house “is currently effectively condemned, along with much of the street”.

This follows “recurrent and devastating flood damage” which forced him and his family to move out, his application says.

The street has flooded this year, last year and the year before that.

His proposed new home would sit on a similar footprint to the existing building, and “would respect the proportions and scale” of the rest of the mid-20th-century street. But it would be raised on columns, with the ground floor used only for car and cycle parking.

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His application says he hopes the plan “will act as a catalyst for a resurrection of the street, which is currently facing unprecedented destruction as a result of extreme annual flooding”.

Incorporating triple glazing, the three-bedroom design would also seek to capture as much sunlight as possible, could have roof-mounted solar panels, and would maintain similar views.

It would even “provide outdoor space during a flood event, in the form of a balcony”.

Some current hard surfaces would be replaced with new hedgerow, wildflower and permeable surfacing.

The nearby Fryers Gate apartment block, between the rowing club and the city’s main Greyfriars bridge and completed in 2017, is already raised on concrete columns to avert flood damage, the application points out.