CALLS to ensure massive development plans do not increase the danger of flooding have been backed in Bolton.

More than 16,000 new homes are planned for Bolton under the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework proposals — 7,000 of which are earmarked for greenbelt, greenfield or open protected sites — leading to some fears that existing properties will be at greater risk of flooding.

According to a report published last week, current planning laws make it too easy to connect new developments to already-stretched drainage systems.

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) warned that overwhelmed drains are the most common type of flooding in towns, with water rushing off roads, roofs and other hard surfaces and into drains that cannot cope.

On Boxing Day 2015, 116 properties across the Bolton were flooded, with investigations identifying drainage problems — including several blocked or collapsed culverts — as a key factor in the severity of the disaster.

Chris Green, MP for Bolton West, has campaigned against the plans in the spatial framework and has warned about the risks of building on greenbelt land.

He said: “I have argued that we should be building up and not out, developing our town centres.

“I am sure that there are a lot of opportunities to develop town centre land, much like has been done in Manchester, and therefore not have to develop on green belt spaces.

“One thing we can be certain of is that if you build on brownfield land that has been previously developed, you will have data to show whether it is an area that has flooded before.

“Building on green spaces is far more concerning in terms of flood risk because we don’t have the historic data to look at and see what concreting and tarmacking vast swathes of green land will mean.”

Sandra Hesketh, of the Hulton Estate Area Residents Together (HEART) group campaign group, added: “Flood risk is one of the issues we are very aware of when it comes to these new proposed developments.

“We do get a lot of flooding here and there is no river for the water to run off into from the Hulton Estate.”

The CIWEM and WWT are calling for the Government to strengthen planning law so that all new developments would use sustainable drainage systems where possible.

Cllr Nick Peel, Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, said: “The presumption in planning law at the moment is that you would not build on a flood plain, but it does happen on some occasions.

“It depends on how high the likelihood of that particular area flooding is judged to be.

“If these organisations are calling for strengthened planning conditions on new properties in relation to flood mitigation, I think that is something that is very sensible and would be welcomed here.”