Flood Risk Assessments
Are you thinking of applying for planning permission for a new
development or the change of use of an existing property?
Does the Flood Map show that your site may be at risk from
flooding? If this is the case, it is likely that we as your local
planning authority will ask you to submit a Flood Risk Assessment
(FRA) with your planning application.
Prior to carrying out such an assessment you are advised to
contact the local Environment Agency office at Colden Common
(telephone 0870 8506 506) to discuss the
scope of the assessment required and also to establish what
information may be available.
You can access useful information about when an
FRA is required
and what it should include on
the Flood Risk Advice web site (external link). This
information, known as
Flood Risk Standing
Advice, has been produced by the Environment Agency and
describes the likely response to consultations on planning
applications, from a flood risk point of view only, based on the
following three criteria:
- Development type
- Location
- Scale or size
The submission of a Flood Risk Assessment does not
automatically mean that your development will be acceptable in
terms of the risk of flooding, either to the property itself or to
neighbouring properties. Some types of development are particularly
vulnerable to flooding and would be unlikely to gain planning
permission if proposed in an area where flood risk is very
high.
Background to Flood Risk Standing Advice
The
National
Planning Policy Framework (
NPPF
) was released
in England in March 2012. It contains (paragraphs
100-103) flood risk advice reflecting the increasing importance of
managing flood risk through the effective use of the land use
planning system. There is also an NPPF
Technical Guidance document which contains more details of
carrying out development with due regard to flood risk.
Interpreting the Flood Map for Planning purposes
The
NPPF
works on the
concept of Flood Zones, which are the mapping constraint that must
be used when considering new development in England. The two flood
extents that you can see on the Flood Map are the same as Flood
Zones 2 and 3A, as defined in the
NPPF
Technical
Guidance.
The dark blue shaded area representing Flooding from rivers or
sea without defences is the same as Flood Zone 3A (0.5% probablity
for coast flooding, 1% for river flooding).
The light blue shaded area representing the Extent of Extreme
Flood is the same as Flood Zone 2 (0.01% probability for coast and
river flooding).
Flood Zone 3B (land that would flood with an annual
probability of 1 in 20 (5 per cent) or greater in any year,
or is designed to flood in an extreme (0.1 per cent) flood) is
not currently separately indicated on the Flood Map.
The Flood Map is a multi-layered awareness-raising tool and is
not accurate to the level of individual properties, and is
regularly updated in light of new information.
WARNING:
Flood Map layers showing Flood defences and
Areas benefiting from flood defences should not be
taken to imply that proposed new development in these areas is
acceptable. Data on the likelihood of flooding at any given
location, accessed via the 'learn more'
button, should not be used as the sole source
of information for planning purposes.
Further information