Advice on buying a house overlooking an attenuation pond

[Noamy]

I'm considering a new build property that overlooks a large-ish attenuation pond (it's as wide as one of the property lots and as long as 10 lots). There is a private road between the front yard and the attenuation pond, and the pond is backed by tall trees.

As the property is still under development, I can only imagine what it will really look like, though the developer has a detailed soft landscaping map that specifies the type of vegetation that will be grown in the pond and around it (mostly wild/wet-loving plants).

The marketing brochure depicts this as a blue pond, which I thought looked lovely, but realised after some research that this is not actually a pond, and will rarely have water, and will also have a somewhat overgrown look due to the wetland vegetation that will be planted there.

I imagine this is what it will look like (this picture is from a different development, different builder - I looked for 'attenuation ponds' on Google Images):

netmagmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/08/Bellway-homes-jul-19-JC-wildflower-matting-25.jpg

As the pond stretches along the front of about 10 lots, it will dominate the visual field for about 120 degrees from left to right on the front of the property. The near edge of the pond is about 15m from the driveway.

My questions - what is the general view on houses overlooking attenuation ponds? Do they hurt property values or resale prospects? Are there maintenance or safety issues?

Which developer is it?

Have a look at the planning application as well. There may be planning conditions associated with how the attenuation pond is finished. Not that many planning authorities have the resources to police the discharge of planning conditions! It should be fenced. Who will be the landowner? Likely to be their responsibility.

@BikeRunSki

Have a look at the planning application as well. There may be planning conditions associated with how the attenuation pond is finished. Not that many planning authorities have the resources to police the discharge of planning conditions! It should be fenced. Who will be the landowner? Likely to be their responsibility.

Good point about planning application. I guess that will come out in the searches if we proceed, or I'll have to get that from the local authority.

I doubt the council would actively scrutinise if the finishing is faithful to the plan but I'm hoping that the developer would ensure they're compliant and also ensure effective mechanisms for maintenance out of a concern for their own reputation.

@noamy you can usually find the details of planning applications online for free on the planning portal of your local councils website. This should also include the conditions that the council has put on the developer to allow planning permission

It's an engineered hole, dug to hold exceptionally heavy rainfall and the run-off from hard surfaces, such as drives and roads, and to prevent flooding. It has a narrow guage exit pipe, which allows the water to drain off slowly and safely.

These holes are usually planted with water-loving plants, but are rarely filled with water and can look rather untidy when the plants take over. The advantage of living opposite one is that you are not overlooked, but if you prefer something more manicured, then they will not be for you.

Insects love these ponds, especially the little bitey ones :(