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News Release from: Chartered Institute of Building [CIOB] | Subject: Flood plain development control to be tightened
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 15 May 2006
Flood plain development control to be
tightened
Building on land in flood plains will come under stricter environmental control if as expected the Environment Agency is granted statutory consultee status in relation to major developments.
Building on land in flood plains will come under stricter environmental control if as expected the Environment Agency is granted statutory consultee status in relation to major developments The move is strongly supported by the House of Commons Environment Committee whose report published yesterday said the analysis of the current consultation on the relevant Planning Policy Guidance note would be published in October
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 12 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The committee says that the proposal for tighter control was welcomed by the vast majority of people who gave evidence to its inquiry into the work of the Environment Agency.
The move would mean that plans for significant housing developments in flood plains going contrary to the Agency's advice will be referred to Ministers.
The Agency estimates that over five million people and two million homes are currently at risk of flooding in England and Wales.
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Insurance companies were particularly supportive of these additional powers, the committee reports.
"Royal Sun Alliance told us that the Agency's proposed new status would give insurers and the public more confidence that new homes are being adequately protected from flooding." Similarly, the Association of British Insurers warned that home-owners could struggle to obtain insurance for properties in areas of flood risk if the Agency was not granted such powers.
However, the former Minister of State at the U.K.
Department of the Environment, Elliot Morley, stressed that the revised PPG25 would not mean a blanket ban on any development in any flood plain.
He said that planning authorities only had to take into account the potential for increased flood risk in terms of the application.
The committee itself expressed its concern that the Agency's advice on development in areas of flood risk has sometimes been ignored.
In 2004, they discovered, some 700 houses were built in flood risk areas against Agency advice.
It is estimated that at present the Agency is consulted in fewer than 60 per cent of applications where there is a risk of flooding.
"We strongly support", they said, "the proposal in the current consultation on the revision of PPG25 to grant the Agency statutory consultee status for planning applications involving development in flood risk areas.
"We recommend that where the Government allows development to go ahead against Agency advice, the Government should publicly explain the reasons for not accepting the Agency's advice.
We believe this would significantly improve transparency in this area".
Funding for flood defences The insurance industry wants the Government to increase levels of investment in flood risk management by at least £30 million year-on-year in order to tackle the growing risks, quoting the 2004 Foresight report warning that figures for annual damage from flooding could rise from the present level of £1 billion to about £25 billion in the worst case scenario.
The committee is backing the Environment Agency in its appeal for an increase of funding for its flood prevention work to £1 billion a year in the long term.
The Agency's flood map available through its web site has attracted favourable comment due to use of advanced technology to map areas most likely to be at risk from river and coastal flooding.
The European Commission considers its work in this field to be an exemplar of best practice, says the Agency, currently investing £30 million a year in improving its flood warning service and encouraging its take-up by householders and business.
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