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Business of the House

Last month, the High Court issued its judgment permitting the development of 119 homes in a flood risk area in the village of Yatton in Somerset. The site had failed the flood risk sequential test. The judgment prioritises building and development over protection against flooding and imperils existing homes and businesses in the area, and flies in the face of everything that insurers, lenders, Flood Re, the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are trying to do. Will the Leader of the House ask his colleagues in DEFRA and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to assess jointly the likely impact of the judgment, which may set a national precedent whereby flood risk assessments shall be ignored?