CONCERNS have been raised that just “a few inches” of space stopped raw sewage from ending up in the front garden of a house.

The issue was raised as East Lothian Council’s planning department considered proposals for 49 new homes on the outskirts of Haddington.

No members of the public objected to Taylor Wimpey’s plans for Letham Mains but one resident did get in touch to highlight a potential problem.

According to the planning officer’s report, there was heavy rainfall in October 2021 which led to water running off the field to the west of the property at Letham Mains Holdings.

The report reads: “It is stated that the water could not drain into the road drain (because the kerb is higher than the drain) resulting in the water running into the garden of 34 Letham Mains Holdings and then into the soakaway for the waste treatment plant and then into the treatment plant itself.

“It states that the water level in the treatment plant was so high that when the toilet was flushed, the wastewater from the toilet came up the bath plughole and into the bath.

“It is stated that if the water that filled the treatment plant had been just a few inches higher, it would have flushed raw sewage into the front garden of that house.”

However, the council’s team manager for structures, flooding and street lighting had “no knowledge” of the reported drainage problem.

The development, which is made up of two, three, four and five-bedroom properties, is the latest section of the larger Letham Mains site to get the go-ahead.

Twenty-seven of the homes will be detached, with 12 semi-detached and two rows of three houses and one row of four.

In total, more than 800 new homes will be built on the site, which is also home to Letham Mains Primary School, on Haddington’s western edge.

The latest scheme, which is in the south-west of the site, was approved with a number of conditions, including that the council must first approve “a boundary catchwater drain and a surface water management plan”.