RESIDENTS in Barrow say a proposed 80-home development will lead to an unacceptable rise in traffic through the village and an increased risk of flooding for houses nearby.

Developer Hopkins Homes has submitted an application to St Edmundsbury Borough Council to build on a plot at Barrow Hill to the south of the village. The application includes plans for 24 affordable homes.

But villager Nick Collins, whose house backs on to the land, is worried along with his neighbours about the impact of the development.

He said: “The plans as they stand are an unacceptable expansion of the village. Eighty new homes means 150 new cars will be travelling through the village each day and there will also be pressure on places at the local school.

“Flooding is also an issue. Trenches recently dug by archeologists on the plot have filled with water and the run-off has already flooded my garage.”

But, according to Ian Houlder, Barrow’s borough councillor, the plot has been earmarked for development in the borough’s 2031 plan.

He added: “Barrow Hill does have clay soil that doesn’t take water very well but that is for Hopkins Homes to come up with adequate drainage proposals. We would all like to keep the village as it is but the region needs new homes, so we must work towards a development that enhances the infrastructure of the village.”

He added that the parish council has been given extra time to study the application and that the borough councils was likely to discuss the plans in February.

No-one from Hopkins Home was available for comment.