Flood Risk Management Plans
In England and Wales, Strategic Flood Risk Assessments (SFRAs) are a required part of the local planning process, as set out in Planning Policy Statement 25, produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government. SFRAs are primarily produced by local planning authorities, in consultation with the Environment Agency, and are intended to "form the basis for preparing appropriate policies for flood risk management"[]1 at the local level.
At the regional level, the equivalent document is the Regional Flood Risk Appraisal.
On the smaller scale these SFRAs are used to inform site-specific Flood Risk Assessments (FRAs) for individual planning applications.
Composition of an FRA
For a flood risk assessment to be written information is needed concerning the existing and proposed developments, the Environment Agency modeled flood levels and topographic levels on site. At its most simple (and cheapest) level an FRA can provide an indication of whether a development will be allowed to take place at a site.
An initial idea of the risk of flooding to a local area can be found on the Environment Agency flood map website. However, the Environment Agency use low resolution flood mapping to create this flood map as a cautious estimate of flood risk, and therefore on the more local scale this mapping may not be accurate.[]4
Longer FRAs consist of a detailed analysis of available data to inform the Environment Agency of flood risk at an individual site and also recommend to the developer any mitigation required for a planning application to be submitted. More costly analysis of flood risk can be achieved through detailed flood modelling to challenge the agency's modelled levels and corresponding flood zones.
The FRA takes into account the risk and impact of flooding on the site, and takes into consideration how the development may affect flooding in the local area. It also includes provides recommendations as to how the risk of flooding to the site can be improved or improved following development.
As well as assessing the risk to the site posed by fluvial flooding, FRAs should also consider flooding from other sources including fluvial, groundwater, surface water runoff and sewer flooding.
Ireland
In 2009, The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Office of Public Works published planning guidelines requiring Local Authorities to apply a sequential approach to flood risk management[]5. The guidelines require that proposed development in flood risk areas must undergo a justification test, comprising of a Flood Risk Assessment[]6.
Related Articles
References
This article is a combination of two articles from Wikipedia - Strategic Flood Risk Assessment and Flood Risk Assessment
Links
UK DEFRA (Departmen for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Flooding website - DEFRA
Risk Assessment and Control Approaches for Stormwater Flood and Pollution Management
