PLANS have been lodged to build 14 homes on the outskirts of Carlisle, but flooding concerns have been raised by residents as it means draining excess water into a system that "already can't cope" in winter months.

Villagers of Moorhouse have called on Carlisle City Council not to approve Citadel Homes' planning application to build the homes as they feel it will exacerbate flooding issues.

Jayne Mcintyre-Ward is directly affected as water run-off will disperse into her land from a highway drain.

She says that the system is already unable to cope in the winter months turning her field into 'a bog.'

Mrs Mcintyre-Ward said: "The developer is planning on tapping into a drain that runs into my land. Citadel Homes don't have the right to drain into my land."

She said: "It's struggling to cope with the water off the homes that are already going into it and the highway drain that runs into it as well."

Mrs Mcintyre-Ward said that villagers already fear flooding in the winter months.

"Villagers were just all astounded, we had a big flood in the village in several places."

She said that all the drains were blocked in Moorhouse in October and her field once again became a bog.

"We should have a field that we can turn our horses out in."

It is worth noting that the landowners have been told the drainage ditch needs to be cleaned out.

"To add more into the system that already can't cope just seems bonkers. It's causing massive anxiety. Massive amounts of stress that we just don't need."

A spokesperson for Citadel Homes said: “The land already has detailed planning consent for 9 detached homes. The revised scheme for 14 has been designed with storage so that the surface water run-off is identical to that previously approved.”

The application was set to be considered at a meeting of the planning panel on January 14 but was deferred for consideration at a future meeting.

In the report prepared for members, Cumbria County Council as lead flood authority said: "The applicant has submitted detailed micro drainage calculations in Appendix H of the Drainage Strategy to demonstrate that sufficient attenuation is provided on site to accommodate a 1 in 100 year plus 40 per cent to account for climate change storm event. The LLFA have reviewed the calculations and the attenuation provided on site does provide sufficient attenuation for a 1 in 100 year plus 40 per cent to account for climate change storm event."