St Stephen's Hill Farm, Rugeley Flood Risk Assessment
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WWW.RABCONSULTANTS.CO.UK [email protected] P/2016/01267 Received 12 Sept 2016 St Stephen’s Hill Farm, Rugeley Flood Risk Assessment 24/03/2016 Version 1.0 RAB: 1291L Second Floor, Cathedral House, Unit 13, St Stephens Court, Willington, Kingsbrook House, 7 Kingsway, Beacon Street, Lichfield WS13 7AA Crook, County Durham DL15 0BF Bedford, Bedfordshire MK42 9BA T. 01543 547 303 T. 01388 748 366 T. 01234 363 582 Registered Office: Langard Lifford Hall, Lifford Hall, Lifford Lane, Kings Norton, Birmingham B30 3JN. Registered in England. Company No 5799647. VAT registration No. 884 0481 08 1291L St Stephen’s Hill Farm March 2016 Version 1.0 Revision History Version Date Amendments Issued to 1.0 24/03/16 M. Pope Quality Control Action Signature Date Prepared P. Batty 07/03/16 Checked G. Wilson 17/03/16 Approved R. Burton 23/03/16 Disclaimer This document has been prepared solely as a Flood Risk Assessment for Mr P. Brown. RAB Consultants accepts no responsibility or liability for any use that is made of this document other than by the client for the purpose for which it was originally commissioned and prepared. No person other than the client may copy (in whole or in part) use or rely on the contents of this document, without the prior written permission of the Managing Director of RAB Consultants Ltd. Any advice, opinions, or recommendations within this document should be read and relied upon only in the context of the document as a whole. RAB Office Lichfield Office Second Floor Cathedral House Beacon Street Lichfield WS13 7AA i | P a g e 1291L St Stephen’s Hill Farm March 2016 Version 1.0 This page intentionally left blank ii | P a g e 1291L St Stephen’s Hill Farm March 2016 Version 1.0 Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 1 2.0 SITE DETAILS ................................................................................................................... 1 2.1 Site location ................................................................................................................................... 1 2.2 Site description .............................................................................................................................. 1 2.3 Development proposal ................................................................................................................... 2 3.0 FLOOD RISK ..................................................................................................................... 2 3.1 Flooding history ............................................................................................................................. 2 3.2 Fluvial (Rivers) ............................................................................................................................... 3 3.3 Flood defence breach or overtopping ............................................................................................ 3 3.3.1. Breach risk......................................................................................................................... 3 3.3.2. Overtopping risk................................................................................................................. 3 3.4 Coastal/tidal ................................................................................................................................... 3 3.5 Groundwater .................................................................................................................................. 3 3.6 Pluvial (Surface water) ................................................................................................................... 5 3.7 Artificial water bodies ..................................................................................................................... 6 4.0 MITIGATION MEASURES ................................................................................................. 6 4.1 Risk to buildings ............................................................................................................................ 6 4.1.1. Finished floor levels ........................................................................................................... 6 4.1.2. Flood resistance ................................................................................................................ 6 4.1.3. Flood resilience ................................................................................................................. 7 4.2 Risk to occupiers ........................................................................................................................... 7 4.2.1. Safe access/egress ........................................................................................................... 7 4.3 Risk to others................................................................................................................................. 7 4.3.1. Floodplain compensation and flood flow routes ................................................................. 7 4.3.2. Surface water run-off ......................................................................................................... 8 5.0 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 9 6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................... 9 APPENDIX A – SITE LOCATION & PROPOSED DESIGN ....................................................... 10 iii | P a g e 1291L St Stephen’s Hill Farm March 2016 Version 1.0 This page intentionally left blank ii | P a g e 1291L St Stephen’s Hill Farm March 2016 Version 1.0 1.0 Introduction RAB Consultants has prepared this Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) in support of the proposed development at St Stephen’s Hill Farm. The development site is located in Flood Zone 1 in accordance with the Environment Agency’s Flood Map for Planning (Rivers and Sea). The Planning Practice Guidance for the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires a site specific Flood Risk Assessment to be carried out for developments located in Flood Zones 2 & 3 and for those which are 1 hectare (ha) or greater in size. The site is 1.3ha and therefore a site specific FRA is required to ensure that the development is safe from flooding and will not increase the risk of flooding elsewhere. 2.0 Site details 2.1 Site location Table 1 – Site location Land at St Stephen’s Hill Farm, Steenwood Lane, Admaston, Site address Rugeley WS15 3NQ Site area 1.3ha Formerly used for growing agricultural crops but is currently Existing land use unused. OS NGR 405609 323055 Local Planning Authority East Staffordshire Borough Council 2.2 Site description The site in question was formerly used for growing agricultural crops but is currently unused. Access to the site is from a private drive which leads from the B5013 close to the south shore of Blithfield Reservoir. 1 | P a g e 1291L St Stephen’s Hill Farm March 2016 Version 1.0 Table 2 – Site photographs 1 – VIEW FROM THE SOUTH WEST OF THE SITE LOOKING TOWARDS 2 – VIEW FROM THE NORTH EAST BOUNDARY OF THE SITE LOOKING BLITHFIELD RESERVOIR. SOUTH WEST. 3 – VIEW FROM THE SOUTH WEST OF THE SITE LOOKING TOWARDS BLITHFIELD RESERVOIR. NOTICE THE AREA OF WATERLOGGED 4 – NATURAL DEPRESSION IN THE GROUND TOWARDS THE NORTH GROUND IN THE FOREGROUND OF THE PHOTO, THIS IS DESCRIBED IN EAST OF THE SITE. MORE DETAIL IN SECTION 3.5. 2.3 Development proposal It is proposed to construct 10 short stay holiday lodges on the site (Appendix A) along with an access track and parking. There will also be some landscaping, planting and the creation of a pond/wetland on site. 3.0 Flood Risk 3.1 Flooding history The owner has no knowledge of flooding at the site from Blithfield reservoir (knowledge dating back 45 years). The owner believes that the ground level at the site is many metres above the height of the reservoir outfall and consequently flooding at the site is extremely unlikely. 2 | P a g e 1291L St Stephen’s Hill Farm March 2016 Version 1.0 There is a dry depression in the ground near the southern boundary of the site (Figure 1). The depression filled with water during the rains of summer 2007. It is proposed to landscape the depression to form a pond/wetland and this will be used to provide attenuation to surface water leaving the site. The owner has no other knowledge of significant water collecting on the site over the past 45 years. FIGURE 1 DRY DEPRESSION IN THE GROUND IN FRONT OF THE TREE The owner reports that the action of the spring (which enters the site at the southern boundary and is described in section 3.5) has remained constant and does not seem to be subject to seasonal change. 3.2 Fluvial (Rivers) The River Blithe passes through Blithfield Reservoir which is located 100m north east of the site. The development is within Flood Zone 1 in accordance with the Environment Agency’s flood mapping network. This zone comprises land assessed as having a less than 1 in 1000 annual probability of river or sea flooding in any given year. 3.3 Flood defence breach or overtopping 3.3.1. Breach risk The site is not protected by flood defences therefore is not at risk from this source. 3.3.2. Overtopping risk The site is not protected by flood defences therefore is not at risk from this source. 3.4 Coastal/tidal The site is not located near the coast therefore is not at risk from this source. 3.5 Groundwater There