50600596 THE BLACK COUNTRY LOCAL FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OCTOBER, 2015 THE BLACK COUNTRY LOCAL FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY THE BLACK COUNTRY LOCAL FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY The Black Country Local Authorities Project no: 50600596 Date: October, 2015 WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Three White Rose Office Park, Millshaw Park Lane Leeds LS11 0DL Tel: +0 (0) 113 395 6200 Fax: +0 (0) 113 395 6201 www.wspgroup.com www.pbworld.com QUALITY MANAGEMENT ISSUE/REVISION FIRST ISSUE REVISION 1 REVISION 2 REVISION 3 Remarks Draft for Consultation Date 28/10/2015 Prepared by Kim Bossingham Signature Checked by Nic Macmillan Signature Authorised by Nic Macmillan Signature Project number 50600596 Report number V1 File reference \aaENVIRONMENTALP LANNING\04projects\50 600596 – Black Country SEA\3.SEA ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................3 1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................4 2 STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ........................8 3 APPRAISAL OF LFRMS ............................................................25 4 NEXT STEPS ..............................................................................33 APPENDICES APPENDIX A REVIEW OF PLANS, PROGRAMMES AND SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES APPENDIX B BASELINE DATA APPENDIX C SCOPING COMMENTS APPENDIX D LFRMS MEASURES AND ACTIONS APPENDIX E ASSESSMENT OF THE LFRMS The Black Country Local Flood Risk Management Strategy WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Black Country Local Authorities Project No 50600596 October, 2015 3 ABBREVIATIONS AMR Annual Monitoring Report AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty BAP Biodiversity Action Plan CRoW Countryside and Rights of Way Act cSAC candidate Special Areas of Conservation DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government DMBC Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council EA Environment Agency EIA Environmental Impact Assessment FMfSW Flood Map for Surface Water FCERM Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management HAPs Habitat Action Plans HLC Historic Landscape Characterisation HRA Habitats Regulations Assessment LAs Local Authorities LFRMS Local Flood Risk Management Strategy LLFAs Local Flood Risk Authorities LNR Local Nature Reserves LSOA Lower Super Output Areas NNR National Nature Reserves NPPF National Planning Policy Framework NTS Non Technical Summary NVZs Nitrate Vulnerable Zones ONS Office of Neighbourhood Statistics PFRA Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment pSPA potential Special Protection Areas RBMP River Basin Management Plan RSDF Regional Sustainable Development Framework SA Sustainability Appraisal SAC Special Areas of Conservation SAPs Species Actions Plan SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SFRA Strategic Flood Risk Assessment SHLAA The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment SINCs Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation SMBC Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council SPA Special Protection Areas SSSIs Sites of Special Scientific Interest SuDS Sustainable Drainage Systems WC Walsall Council WCC Wolverhampton City Council WFD Water Framework Directive The Black Country Local Flood Risk Management Strategy WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Black Country Local Authorities Project No 50600596 October, 2015 4 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO AND PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 1.1.1 A Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS) has been prepared for the Black Country Local Authorities (LA’s). The Black Country LA’s comprise Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC), Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC), Walsall Council (WC) and Wolverhampton City Council (WCC). 1.1.2 As part of the production of the Black Country LFRMS, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was undertaken. This report provides a summary of the SEA process so far and presents the findings and recommendations of the assessment of the Black Country LFRMS. 1.1.3 This SEA Report provides a summary of the SEA process so far and presents the findings and recommendations of the assessment of the LFRMS. The key aims of this SEA Report are to: Æ Provide information on the LFRMS and the SEA process; Æ Present the key existing social, economic and environmental conditions within the Black Country, in the context of existing plans, programmes and sustainability objectives, together with relevant baseline information; Æ Identify, describe and evaluate the likely significant effects of the LFRMS; Æ Recommend measures to avoid, reduce or offset any potentially significant adverse effects; and Æ Propose an approach to monitoring that can be used to monitor the identified significant effects. 1.2 BACKGROUND TO AND PURPOSE OF THE BLACK COUNTRY LFRMS 1.2.1 Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, the Black Country LA’s have a key role in the management of flood risk and this includes a duty to develop and maintain a local strategy for flood risk management. The purpose of this strategy is to explain how they will manage flood risk from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses, now and in the future. It will provide details of other organisations that are responsible for managing flood risk and what those responsibilities are. 1.2.2 The Act requires LFRMS’s to specify: Æ The risk management authorities within the authority’s area (in the Black Country, these are the Environment Agency, SMBC, DMBC, WC and WCC (as the Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) and the Highway Authorities) and Severn Trent Water; Æ The flood and coastal erosion risk management functions that may be exercised by those authorities in relation to the area; Æ The assessment of local flood risk for the purpose of strategy; Æ The objectives for managing the local flood risk (including any objectives included in the authority’s flood risk management plan prepared in accordance with the Flood Risk Regulations 2009); Æ The measures proposed to achieve those objectives; Æ How and when the measures are expected to be implemented; Æ The costs and benefits of those measures, and how they are to be paid for; The Black Country Local Flood Risk Management Strategy WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Black Country Local Authorities Project No 50600596 October, 2015 5 Æ How and when the strategy is to be reviewed; and Æ How the strategy contributes to the achievement of wider environmental objectives. 1.2.3 LLFA’s must consult risk management authorities that may be affected by the strategy as well as the general public about its LFRMS. 1.2.4 The Strategy provides a set of flood risk management objectives and actions that will ensure that these objectives are achieved within the Black Country. It will also help individuals, communities and businesses and understand flood risk and what action they can take to reduce the effects of flooding. 1.2.5 The Objectives for managing flood risk within the Black Country reflect the Government’s strategic objectives (set out in the ‘National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England’, Environment Agency and Defra, 2011) at a local level and are detailed in Section 2.4.9 1.3 BACKGROUND TO AND PURPOSE OF THE SEA 1.3.1 SEA is a systemic process for evaluating the sustainability effects of plans and programmes to ensure that sustainability issues are integrated and assessed at the earliest opportunity in the decision-making process, and that sustainable development is at the heart of the plan-making process. Article 1 of the SEA Directive states that the aim is to: ‘provide for a high level of protection of the environment and to contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans and programmes with a view to promoting sustainable development’ 1.3.2 SEA became a requirement when the European Directive 2001/42/EC ‘on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment’ (known as the ‘SEA Directive’) was implemented in Member States in July 2004. The Directive was transposed in England through the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations, 2004, under which SEA is a mandatory requirement for certain plans and programmes which are likely to give rise to significant environmental impacts. Flood Risk Management Strategies do not clearly fall within the requirements of these regulations. 1.3.3 However, under the Flood and Water Management Act (2010) (‘the Act’), local authorities were given a new role to manage local flood risk in their area. The Act requires the LLFAs, which includes the Black Country LA’s, to produce an LFRMS. These strategies must be consistent with the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy. They will set out a vision for the management of flood risk and, although the Act specifies some of the key elements that must be included in the LFRMS, it is intended that they will be locally specific, reflecting key local issues and enabling communities to be more involved in decision-making regarding flood risk management. Guidance on the production of LFRMSs1 refers to the need for them to be subject to SEA, stating that “the local FRM Strategy is likely to require statutory SEA, but this requirement is something the LLFA must consider”. 1.3.4 Given the uncertainty around the need for SEA and the likely delays and costs associated with screening, the Black Country LA’s have decided to take a pragmatic approach and subject their emerging LFRMS to SEA. It is also noted that the guidance recognises that: “LLFAs should take a proportionate approach to applying SEA to