FLOOD PLAINS DEVELOPMENTS


Flood water in the Ironbridge Gorge Shropshire, England


Heading for deep water Argyll Environmental’s Ben Furlong discusses the lessons to be learned from building in flood risk areas


Recent press coverage of flooding across the UK has been awash with images of homes caught out in the deluge, and highlighted the risks to properties


constructed on flood plains. But what are the current issues and what policy and guidelines are influencing development in the UK? Ben Furlong of Argyll


Environmental takes a look at the issues:


Ben Furlong is an Environmental Consultant at premier risk


management consultancy, Argyll Environmental. The company offer spans from desk top contaminated land and flood risk reports to bespoke consultancy services.t


S


oaring payout costs for insurance companies as a result of flood damage has created a property market increasingly sensitive to flooding and flood risk issues.


Approximately 5.2 million homes or 1 in 6 are currently at risk of flooding in the UK. A recent report published by Defra predicted this number will increase and identified flooding


16 | British Builder & Developer | BritishBuilder.co.uk


as the greatest risk posed to the UK by climate change. As the extensive floods this year have made clear, flooding causes widespread devastation and destruction to both properties and contents. There can also be impacts on properties market values and the cost and availability of insurance, which is often a key requirement of securing a mortgage.


In recent decades there has been a drive to develop more housing in order to meet demand. On average 12,000-16,000 houses are built on flood plains each year, often despite objections from the Environment Agency. It is possible to retrofit flood protection measures on each house; however, this is less cost effective than undertaking appropriate assessment in order to inform the design of developments to minimise flood risk.


The Government, Environment


Agency and local authorities all have an important role to play in providing clear policy, guidance and advice on flood risk and flood alleviation schemes.


Perhaps the biggest change in the planning regime in relation to managing flood risk was the introduction of ‘Planning Policy Guidance 25’ in 2001. This was later replaced by ‘Planning Policy Statement (PPS:25):


Development and Flood Risk’ in 2006, both of which have since been subsumed into the overarching National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). However, in practice the underlying principles and guidance of PPS:25 remain. The aim of PPS:25 was to clarify the role of the planning system in managing flood risk, setting out the policies for Local Planning Authorities (LPA) to ensure flood risk is considered during the planning process to


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