England: Planning laws tightened around building on flood risk sites
The UK Government is to bring in tighter guidance for planning authorities in England as part of a package of actions to better protect and prepare communities for flooding.
On planning, a recent review of decisions by Defra, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Environment Agency found over 97% of planning decisions for residential properties were made in line with Environment Agency (EA) advice in the year 2019/20. However, 866 homes were granted planning permission contrary to EA advice.
New guidance for local planning authorities, designed to drive up compliance with planning rules, will reaffirm that they must refer planning decisions to ministers when the Environment Agency is sustaining an objection on flood risk. Under the plans, the Government will also consider how planning decisions in areas at risk from surface water flooding could be subject to the equivalent rules in future.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick MP said: “Flooding has a devastating impact on people’s lives and that’s why we’re strengthening our guidance to ensure the measures are in place to protect our homes and businesses from the risk of flooding.
“Our planning reforms will ensure that communities across the country know that future developments will be safe from floods.
“This new guidance will help local communities become more flood resilient by providing local authorities with the right tools to consider how flood risk can be prevented when planning for new homes.”
The announcement comes as the government today set out plans to invest £860 million in 1,000 flood defence schemes this year, as part of a package of measures to better protect households, business premises and infrastructure.
Part of a record £5.2 billion of investment over the next six years, this year’s funding will aim to boost the design and construction of more than 1,000 schemes across England as part of the Environment Agency’s annual capital programme.
It is all part of the Flood and Coastal Erosion Investment Plan, published today, which sets out how new flood and coastal schemes will better protect 336,000 properties by 2027, helping to avoid £32 billion in wider economic damages and reducing the national flood risk by up to 11%.
The funding will be accompanied by a consultation in the autumn, where the Government will look at how to better protect frequently flooded communities, following a call for evidence earlier this year. It will consider how to strengthen the assessment of local circumstances, such as where areas have flooded on multiple occasions, when allocating funding during the six-year plan.
The Government will bring in tighter guidance for planning authorities as part of a package of actions to better protect and prepare communities for flooding. Householders will benefit from changes to the Flood Re Scheme that will allow insurers to pay an additional amount for the installation of property flood resilience measures after a flood – like air brick covers, flood doors and flood resistant plasterboard. Measures to tackle the risks from surface water flooding are also included in the plans.
Environment secretary George Eustice said: “The tragic recent events in Germany and Belgium serve as a sobering reminder of how devastating flooding can be.
“We are standing by communities and will bolster defences against flooding across England with many thousands more properties better protected by 2027.
“It’s important we take action right across the system. Our comprehensive plan will achieve this by tightening planning procedures, helping more people access insurance and making homes more resilient to the effects of flooding.”
Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the Environment Agency, added: “We have seen some devastating flooding around the world so far this summer. No one can prevent all flooding and climate change means the risk is increasing, but we can reduce the risks.
“Having completed the government’s previous six year capital programme on time and on budget, better protecting more than 314,000 homes from flooding and coastal erosion, this year we began the government’s new £5.2 billion flood programme.”
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