A CAIRNEYHILL man has accused Fife Council of being "totally reckless" for allowing a housing development in the area despite worries of flooding.

Martin Keatings said residents' worst fears were confirmed when, after only 10 minutes of heavy rain last week, the Swale built for drainage was half-full and showing signs of erosion.

Contentious plans for 100 homes on agricultural land were approved by Fife Council early this year but the Avant Homes' application to develop 13 hectares south of Pitdinnie Farm had attracted 82 objections.

One of the major worries was that the development would make the village's flooding problems worse. However, a report to councillors said it was not considered that the development would result in a significant additional flood risk.

Mr Keatings, 31, of Greycraigs, told the Press: "It was predicted that there would not be adequate drainage for the village. It was already at capacity before the development started and Fife Council should have made sure that Scottish Water had sorted this out before anything else happened.

"They've built the Swale out of soil and have also built up the gradient for the new houses with soil, which is just stupid on a flood plain. If we get rain like 2008 or 2011 then our homes will end up under water.

"Insurance premiums were already high but this has just increased them by another 10-20 per cent."

When torrential rain hit the village in 2008 residents had to put down sand bags to protect around 50 houses, with some water at the level of people's windows, according to Mr Keatings, who continued: "It's a serious situation. The Swale will collapse on itself and the water will have the potential to go above window level.

"The attitude of the council it seems has been to approve as many planning applications as they can. I don't actually care about having more houses in the area but not to the detriment and safety of other home owners.

"It will be us that will have to pick up the pieces. Fife Council bare the ultimate responsibility here but Avant Homes should also be concerned that they're being socially responsible housebuilders, not just do the the minimum they can possibly do."

Fife Council's Kevin Treadwell said: “The development at Cairneyhill, including the drainage and SUDS infrastructure, is still under construction and not yet complete.

"The developer has put temporary measures in place to prevent flooding issues from their site during the construction phase which they will be monitoring to ensure they remain effective.

"The technical assessment of the approved drainage and SUDS infrastructure concluded the approved scheme would reduce the overall flood risk in the wider area once they are completed.”

An Avant Homes spokesperson said: “We carried out a flood risk assessment for the Pitdinnie Grange development which fully considered the surrounding areas and, through the planning process, is in full compliance with the requirements of Fife Council, as flood authority, and SEPA in regards to flood risk.

“To help alleviate the already known historic flooding issues in Cairneyhill, we will also be providing an additional flood plain area to the east of Pitdinnie Road.”