A COTTINGHAM councillor has given a cautious welcome to plans by Hull City Council to build just over 1,000 homes near the village.
As the Mail exclusively revealed earlier this week, the city council has earmarked three pieces of land it owns in the East Riding near Cottingham for housing development.
It includes sites in Priory Road, Willerby Low Road and Eppleworth Road.
They form part of a wider long-term house-building programme for 4,250 new homes over the next 25 years.
Councillor Helen Green, who represents Cottingham South on East Riding Council, said: "I have not got a problem with the idea of building new houses.
"What is a concern is the type of housing being proposed and making sure the right infrastructure is put in place for new housing.
"That means getting the proper flood mitigation measures sorted out because we don't want a repeat of what happened to Cottingham during the 2007 floods.
"Making sure any new housing does not put unnecessary strain on the existing sewers has to be a priority."
Cllr Green said she would support any move to construct more affordable new housing in the area.
"We need more affordable homes to encourage younger people to move into the village and use its facilities," she said.
However, her East Riding Conservative colleague Councillor John Dennis has taken an opposite view over Hull's proposals for a site near Hedon where up to 420 new homes could eventually be built.
Like those in Cottingham, the site is owned by the city council and forms part of what used to be the home of the former Hedon aerodrome.
Councillor Dennis, who represents South West Holderness, said: "I am totally opposed to the idea of this.
"It is yet another attempt by Hull to swallow up the town of Hedon and the villages in South West Holderness.
"A lot of people have contacted me already expressing their concerns that Hedon will just end up like Sutton, completely absorbed into the city as just another suburb.
"Hedon is an independent entity with a long history to prove it and it should stay that way."
Cllr Dennis said proposed new industrial development between Saltend and Hedon as part of the Green Port Hull project meant Hedon's identity was at threat on two fronts.
"It's pretty much a given for that land to be developed because it has already has Enterprise Zone status.
"However, ABP is known to be keen to develop more land next to it and that would be a step too far."
Launching the house-building proposals earlier this week, city council cabinet member John Black admitted developing Hull-owned land in the East Riding would be a "sensitive" issue.
