The claim was made at last week's public inquiry into the proposed development of more than 100 houses on a green field site north of Udimore Road.

Fear that run-off from new houses would cause a flooding risk was one of the main concerns of residents with homes at Udimore Road and Tilling Green.

But a specialist employed by developers Aroncorp Ltd said this would not be the case and the Environment Agency has said it is happy with the plans to deal with water run-off.

Simon Purcell, a civil engineer with 20 years experience in water issues, told the inquiry: "The majority of the site has a less than one in 1,000 annual probability of flooding and is deemed suitable for all forms of development.

"The water run-off, from the proposed development, will be four litres per hectare per second, which is well within Environment Agency guidelines.

"There will be attenuation ponds on the site and water will be re-directed to the River Tillingham, rather than to the Old Brickyard ditch where it currently runs.

"It will improve the existing system and decrease the risk of flooding to existing properties."

The developers have yet to hold planned talks with Southern Water on foul water sewerage.

The three day inquiry took place at Rye Community Centre last week.
It is an appeal by Aroncorp who were refused planning permission for the development last year.

The land has still to be released from Rother Council's reserve housing list. It has been frozen until October when the need for new housing land will be re-assessed.

Government Inspector Roy Foster said the main issues affecting the hearing were housing policy, and availability of housing over the next five years.
He is now considering evidence from the inquiry and will make a decision later this year.