Councillors in Doncaster have rejected plans for 31 park homes and a social hub near Thorne because much of the proposed site is considered highly vulnerable to flooding. The decision matters because the council concluded that the developer had not provided sufficient evidence to challenge the Environment Agency’s flood-risk assessment.

WPS Developments argued that the flood maps were inaccurate and that the land was unlikely to flood, but councillors were unconvinced. Around half the site is in flood zone three, where the probability of flooding is higher, and most of the proposed single-storey lodges would have been built there; permission to change the field from agricultural to residential use was refused by majority vote.