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Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment February 2012

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Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment February 2012 Wokingham Borough Council Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment February 2012 Halcrow Group Limited Wokingham Borough Council Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment February 2012 Halcrow Group Limited Halcrow Group Limited Elms House, 43 Brook Green, Hammersmith, London W6 7EF Tel +44 (0)20 3479 8000 Fax +44 (0)20 3479 8001 www.halcrow.com Halcrow Group Limited has prepared this report in accordance with the instructions of their client, Wokingham Borough Council, for their sole and specific use. Any other persons who use any information contained herein do so at their own risk. © Halcrow Group Limited 2012 Halcrow Group Limited Elms House, 43 Brook Green, Hammersmith, London W6 7EF Tel +44 (0)20 3479 8000 Fax +44 (0)20 3479 8001 www.halcrow.com Wokingham Borough Council Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Contents Amendment Record This report has been issued and amended as follows: Issue Revision Description Date Signed 1 1 Draft Report Dec 2010 AS/BV 2 1 Draft Report May 2011 AS 3 1 Draft Report July 2011 AS 4 1 Final Report July 2011 AS 5 1 Final Report after review August 2011 AS 6 2 Final Report after review August 2011 AS 7 1 Final Report after review September 2011 AS 8 1 Final Report after review October 2011 AS 9 1 Final Report after review November 2011 AS 10 1 Final report December 2011 BV 11 1 Final report (additional December 2011 BV LDF sites) 12 1 Final report (additional February 2012 ER LDF sites) Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (February 2012) Contents 1 Executive Summary 1 2 Introduction 3 2.1 Purpose of the SFRA 3 2.2 Study Area 3 2.3 National Policy Context 4 2.4 Local Policy Context 5 2.5 Hatch Farm Dairies Flood Risk Assessment: Addendum to SFRA 9 2.6 Wokingham Borough Flooding and Sustainable Planning Task and Finish Group 10 2.7 Report Overview 10 3 Strategic Approach to Flood Risk Management 11 3.1 Applications of the SFRA 11 3.2 Allocating development using the risk based approach 12 3.3 Affect on flooding elsewhere 16 4 Data Collection and Analysis 18 4.1 Sources of flooding and data quality 18 4.2 Data Availability 20 4.3 Historical Flooding 21 4.4 Fluvial Flood Modelling 25 4.5 Flood risk to properties 28 4.6 Flood risk to vulnerable sites 29 4.7 Flood hazard 30 4.8 Surface Water Modelling 31 4.9 Groundwater Flood Risk 33 4.10 Current Flood Risk Management 34 4.11 Flood defences 35 4.12 Flood storage 36 4.13 Structures 37 4.14 Community Resilience (Emergency Planning) 38 5 Overview of Flood Risk by Character Area 40 5.1 Wokingham Borough Character Area maps 40 5.2 Character Area 1: Parishes of Remenham and Wargrave 40 Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (February 2012) 5.3 Character Area 2: Parishes of Sonning, Charvil, Twyford and Ruscombe 41 5.4 Character Area 3: Towns of Earley and Woodley 41 5.5 Character Area 4: Parish of Hurst 42 5.6 Character Area 5: Winnersh Parish and Wokingham Town 43 5.7 Character Area 6: Parishes of Shinfield and Swallowfield 44 5.8 Character Area 7: Parishes of Arborfield and Barkham 45 5.9 Character Area 8: Parishes of Finchampstead and Wokingham Without 45 6 Guidance for Flood Risk Assessments 47 6.1 The requirement for FRAs 47 7 Sustainable Surface Water Management 54 7.1 Benefits of Sustainable Drainage Systems 54 7.2 Constraints on Discharges to Ground 54 7.3 Further references 54 7.4 SuDS within Wokingham Borough 55 8 Assessment of Local Development Framework Sites 57 8.1 The Local Development Framework (LDF) sites 57 9 Conclusions and Recommendations 60 9.1 Fluvial flooding 60 9.2 Surface water flooding 62 9.3 Groundwater flooding 64 9.4 LDF sites assessment 65 9.5 Draft National Planning Policy Framework 66 Glossary of Terms Appendices Appendix A: Policy Framework Appendix B: Data Log Appendix C: Large Tables Appendix D: Summary flood risk and SuDS analysis for LDF sites and assessment of the Southern Distributor Road (South Wokingham SDL) Appendix E: Appendix E: Executive Summary of the Hatch Farm Dairies Flood Risk Assessment (November 2010) – Addendum to the SFRA Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (February 2012) Maps Map 1: Location Plan Map 2: Study Area Map 3: Local Development Framework sites Map 4: Water Features Map 5: Topography Map 6a-1: Overview of Historical Fluvial Flooding (1947-1990) Map 6a-2: Overview of Historical Fluvial Flooding (1993-2009) Map 6b: Overview of Historical Flooding (Data with Spot Locations) Map 6c: Overview of Fluvial Flood Zones (April 2011) Map 6d: Flood Risk for Vulnerable Sites Map 6e: Flood Map for Surface Water Map 7-0: Character Area Key Plan Maps 7-1 to 7-17: Character Area Maps Map 8: Fluvial Flood Hazard Map 9a: Groundwater Aquifers Map 9b: Infiltration Suitability Overview Map 10: Fluvial Flood Depth The Ordnance Survey mapping included in this document is provided by Wokingham Borough Council under license from the Ordnance Survey in order to fulfill its public function to make available Council held public domain information. © Crown Copyright and database rights 2011 Ordnance Survey 100019592. Flood map information is copyright of the Environment Agency. © Environment Agency copyright and/or database rights 2010. All rights reserved. Environment Agency, 100026380, 2010. Maps are for reference purposes only. No further copies may be made. Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (February 2012) This page has been left blank intentionally Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (February 2012) 1 Executive Summary 1.1.1.1 Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 25: Development and Flood Risk requires that Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) prepare a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) in consultation with the Environment Agency. The primary purpose of the SFRA is to determine the variations in flood risk across the Borough. Robust information on flood risk is essential to inform and support Wokingham Borough Council’s revised flooding policies in its emerging Local Development Framework (LDF). The SFRA is a technical document and forms part of the evidence base for the Wokingham Borough Council LDF. 1.1.1.2 An SFRA was completed for the Borough of Wokingham by Jacobs in July 2007. However, SFRAs are required to be ‘living documents’, which are reviewed and updated on a regular basis in the light of emerging policy directives and an improved understanding of flood risk. Therefore in September 2010, Halcrow was commissioned by the Borough Council to undertake an update of the SFRA, taking into account the latest flood risk information and any updates to policy and guidance since the previous SFRA. The update also includes individual flood risk analysis of proposed development sites in Wokingham Borough, based on the data available. 1.1.1.3 This report sets out the findings in relation to flood risk for the Borough. The SFRA builds upon existing knowledge of flood risk within the Borough, sourced through consultation with the Environment Agency, Wokingham Borough Council, Thames Water, local Town and Parish Councils and Residents Associations. 1.1.1.4 This report summarises the outcomes of the SFRA process: the collation and analysis of information relating to flood risk posed to the Borough from all known sources including rivers, surface water, groundwater, large reservoirs/lakes and sewers and the delineation of Wokingham Borough into zones of ‘high’, ‘medium’ and ‘low’ probability of flooding in accordance with PPS25. This will help inform the allocation of sites for possible future development. Individual flood risk information has been summarised for over 200 LDF sites (including both confirmed and unconfirmed sites, as known at the time of writing) that will be considered for allocation in the emerging Managing Development Delivery Development Plan Document (MDD DPD). The SFRA also includes guidance on Flood Risk Assessments (FRAs) and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) along with several recommendations for development management and emergency planning (community resilience). 1.1.1.5 No additional fluvial or pluvial modelling has been carried out by the Council as part of this SFRA. Extensive detailed modelling, produced by the Environment Agency, has been carried out for the rivers in Wokingham Borough. Since the previous SFRA, the key information which has become available is the updated flood zones based on recent modelling of the River Blackwater and River Loddon. 1.1.1.6 A significant increase of information has occurred for surface water flood risk, with the release of the surface water modelling maps. Compared to fluvial flooding this field of work is still in its Doc No 12 Rev: 1 Date: February 2012 1 Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (February 2012) early stages but the results produced so far have provided a useful indication of likely areas at risk. 1.1.1.7 Since October 2008, householders need to obtain planning permission if they wish to lay impermeable surfacing of more than 5m2 in their front garden (permission is not required for permeable surfacing). Doc No 12 Rev: 1 Date: February 2012 2 Wokingham Borough Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (February 2012) 2 Introduction 2.1 Purpose of the SFRA 2.1.1.1 Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 25: Development and Flood Risk requires that Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) prepare a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) in consultation with the Environment Agency. The primary purpose of the SFRA is to determine the variations in flood risk across the Borough. Robust information on flood risk is essential to inform and support Wokingham Borough Council revised flooding policies in its emerging Local Development Framework (LDF).
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