Managing Flood Risk Background Paper FINAL
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MANAGING FLOOD RISK BACKGROUND PAPER Introduction................................................................................................................. 2 Legal and Policy Background ..................................................................................... 2 Evidence Base............................................................................................................ 7 Managing Flood Risk Policy ..................................................................................... 11 Policy Delivery Mechanisms..................................................................................... 15 Alternative Policy Options......................................................................................... 16 MANAGING FLOOD RISK BACKGROUND PAPER Introduction 1. This paper sets out the policy background and evidence based studies that have been used to develop the policy on Managing Flood Risk. Legal and Policy Background Water Framework Directive, 2000/60/EC 2. The Directive requires all inland and coastal waters to reach ‘good chemical and ecological status’ for surface waters and ‘good status’ for groundwater in terms of quality and quantity by 2015. River basin management plans are required to provide the context for the co-ordination of water management for the river basin. Assessment and Management of Flood Risks, Directive 2007/60/EC 3. The Directive requires assessment of all water courses and coast lines at risk from flooding. The purpose is to map the flood extent, the assets and humans at risk in these areas and to take adequate and coordinated measures to reduce this flood risk. Flood and Water Management Act 2010 4. Relevant key features of the Act are: • To give the Environment Agency an overview of all flood and coastal erosion risk management and unitary and county councils the lead in managing the risk of all local floods. • To introduce an improved risk based approach to reservoir safety. • To encourage the uptake of sustainable drainage systems by removing the automatic right to connect to sewers and providing for unitary and county councils to adopt SUDS for new developments and redevelopments. • To provide for a Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA), in this case Warwickshire County Council. The LLFA should bring together all relevant bodies – district councils, internal drainage boards, highways authorities, water companies and the Environment Agency to help manage local flood risk. Local flood risk includes surface run-off, groundwater and ordinary watercourses (including lakes and ponds). The LLFA, working with local partners, is to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a strategy for local flood risk management in its area. 5. Alongside the Act, the Flood Risk Regulations 2009 have been made to implement the Floods Directive in England and Wales. These regulations outline the roles and responsibilities of the various authorities consistent with the Flood and Water Management Act and provide for the delivery of the following outputs, as required by the Directive: • Preliminary Flood Risk Assessments (PFRAs), which will allow the identification of areas of potential significant risk. • Maps showing impact and extent of possible future significant flood events. • Flood risk management plans, identifying how significant flood risks are to be mitigated. National Planning Policy Framework (DCLG, 2012) 6. The Government’s objectives in relation to climate change, flooding and water include: • minimising vulnerability and providing resilience to impacts arising from climate change • taking full account of flood risk and water supply and demand considerations. 7. The NPPF says that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk, but where development is necessary, make it safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere. Strategic Flood Risk Assessments and advice from the Environment Agency, lead local flood authorities and internal drainage boards should be used to develop policies to manage flood risk from all sources. 8. The NPPF says that Local Plans should apply a sequential, risk-based approach to the location of development to avoid flood risk to people and property where possible, and manage any residual risk, taking account of the impacts of climate change, by: • applying the Sequential Test • if necessary, applying the Exception Test • safeguarding land from development that is required for current and future flood management • using opportunities offered by new development to reduce the causes and impacts of flooding; and • where climate change is expected to increase flood risk so that some existing development may not be sustainable in the long-term, seeking opportunities to facilitate the relocation of development, including housing, to more sustainable locations. 9. Further guidance is set out in a Technical Appendix to the NPPF. River Basin Management Plans 10. River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) are plans for protecting and improving the water environment. Two are relevant in Nuneaton and Bedworth, the Humber and Severn. 11. The Humber RBMP (Environment Agency, 2009) describes the river basin district, and the pressures that the water environment faces. It shows what this means for the current state of the water environment, and what actions will be taken to address the pressures. It sets out what improvements are possible by 2015 and how the actions will make a difference to the local environment – the catchments, the estuaries and coasts, and the groundwater. 12. Relevant actions include: • To promote the wide scale use of sustainable drainage schemes to reduce the risks of flooding and of impact on surface water quality at times of high rainfall. • To promote water efficiency in new development through regional strategies and local development frameworks. Use a Water Cycle Study to identify policy advice on water efficiency measures. • To ensure that planning policies and spatial planning documents take into account the objectives of the Humber RBMP. • To take action to reduce the physical impacts of urban development in artificial or heavily modified waters, to help waters reach good ecological potential. • To implement surface water management plans, increasing resilience to surface water flooding and ensuring water quality is considered on a catchment basis. • To promote the use of sustainable drainage systems in new urban and rural development where appropriate, and retrofit in priority areas including highways where possible. 13. Spatial planning and design for urban development and infrastructure should aim to reduce surface water run off; protect and restore habitats; improve the quality of rivers, coastal waters, and groundwater, and thus protect drinking water supplies and bathing areas. The release of toxic pollutants that harm the water environment also needs to be reduced. 14. The Severn RBMP (Environment Agency, 2009) is relevant to Bedworth and south of Borough towards Coventry. It raises the same issues as the Humber RBMP. Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMP) 15. A CFMP is a high level strategic plan for the Environment Agency to work with other decision makers within a river catchment to identify and agree long term policies for sustainable flood risk management. Two CFMPs cover the Borough: The River Trent and the River Severn. 16. The River Trent CFMP (Environment Agency, 2010) identifies the sub area of The Upper Soar and Upper Anker sub area, which is relevant to Nuneaton. For this sub area, Policy Option 4 is chosen. This Option refers to areas of low, moderate or high flood risk where flood risk is being managed effectively but where there is a need to take further actions to keep pace with climate change. This policy is selected because although the risk is currently managed appropriately, it is expected to rise significantly in the long term. In these circumstances, we need to do more in the future to reduce the expected increase in risks. 17. The River Severn CFMP (Environment Agency, 2009) covers the Telford, Black Country, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and Coventry Cluster sub area. This is relevant to Bedworth. For this sub area, Policy Option 5 is chosen. This Option refers to areas of moderate to high flood risk where further action can be taken to reduce flood risk. This policy is about reducing the risk where the existing flood risk is too high. Action is needed in the short term to reduce this level of risk. River Tame Flood Risk Management Strategy (Environment Agency, 2011) 18. The strategy outlines how the Environment Agency will reduce flood risk on the River Tame (of which the River Anker is a tributary) over the next 100 years (2009 – 2109) by: • continuing existing activities such as flood warnings, channel maintenance and advising businesses, landowners and the public on flood resilience; • improving the operation of existing flood storage areas; • improving river flows by reducing the number of pinch points and blockages which cause high river levels; • providing new flood defences and replacing some existing ones. 19. Whilst the strategy is referred to by the SFRA1, there are no specific aspects relevant to the Borough. 20. The SFRA 1 also refers to the River Tame Flood Risk Management Strategy (Environment Agency, 2011), River Trent Strategy and the River Severn Strategy. However, there are no specific implications for Nuneaton and Bedworth. Shaping our Future - Sustainable Community Plan 2007-2021 for Nuneaton and Bedworth 21. Theme