Worcester City Council has hit back after claims of ignoring Environment Agency advice to build on flood-prone land.
According to Environment Agency Chief Executive Lady Young, an industrial development in Worcester was built on a flood plain, without seeking an opinion from the agency.
She said even though Worcester and other local authorities consulted flood risk experts, they were prepared to put people's property and lives at risk. She estimated in 40 per cent of cases, local councils were ignoring Whitehall guidelines by not even consulting the agency and some councils had failed to conduct proper hazard evaluations.
But last night Worcester City Council Planning Manager Paul O'Connor disagreed.
He said the application highlighted was for the temporary use of land as a car park for haulage vehicles.
The 12-month application for the land on the Blackpole industrial estate east in Blackpole Road, Worcester, expired last Friday.
He said: "Worcester city has an excellent relationship with the Environment Agency and we consider it on all applications on flood plains and with flood risks.
"On this occasion, the agency did not come back to us on time, but it does normally and it is only an email or a phonecall away.
"We have taken the right approach towards safeguarding areas of flooding as we have got the River Severn, which floods every year and large areas of the city get flooded.
"We are acutely aware of the need in these areas and support the decisions made by the Environment Agency."
Worcester is not the only council which has had to deal with the agency taking too long.
Other authorities have criticised the Agency, saying it consistently failed to give an opinion on time, a claim the Agency has accepted for a fifth of cases where local authorities have made decisions without them.
But in spite of the slow process, Lady Young said tougher powers were needed to deal with councils.
Former Environment Minister Michael Meacher has supported the call for stronger powers and described the number of accepted planning applications in spite of the agency's protests as " scandalous and too high".
The Environment Agency's concerns highlight the flooding issues in Britain, where at least five million people in two million homes are living in areas with a high flood risk. Statistics show a predicted rise in the numbers of people who may be in danger and the costs of flood damage, partly caused by climate change.
