Flood Risk
The body responsible for managing flood risk in England and
Wales is the Environment Agency. The Agency maintains the majority
of the flood defences in the district and provides advice on
flooding and new development. You can find out whether your
property is at risk of flooding by following the link to the
Environment Agency website.
Over 2 million properties in England and Wales are at risk from
flooding. Changes in our climate, such as more severe storms and
wetter winters, will increase that risk. Through the use of flood
risk management, the Environment Agency's objective is to reduce
the likelihood of flooding from rivers and the sea through the
management of land, river systems, and flood and coastal defences.
The Agency is also working to reduce the damage floods can do
through effective land use planning, flood warning and emergency
responses.
In Related Documents below there is a link to a flood risk map,
which shows the 1:100 flood risk area for fluvial flooding, and the
1:200 flood risk area for tidal flooding; the boundaries of the
highest recorded historical flood are shown where this is
greater.
Flood Risk and Development
Planning Policy Statement 25 Development and Flood Risk explains
the government's policy in relation to development in flood risk
areas. As the Local Planning Authority, we are required to follow a
'sequential' approach to the identification of land for
development; in effect, new development should preferably be
located in areas that are not at risk from flooding. PPS25 provides
advice for landowners or developers about Flood Risk Assessment
(FRA) and the Environment Agency has a website dedicated to flood
risk, which includes detailed information about the assessment
process.
Where land is within an area at risk from flooding, developers
and agents are advised to make contact with the planning office
prior to submitting a planning application so that the implications
of the proposal can be fully considered. Applications for
development within flood risk areas must be accompanied by full
flood risk assessments.
Strategic Flood Risk Assessment
The five authorities in Thames Gateway South Essex (Rochford,
Castle Point, Southend, Basildon and Thurrock) have prepared a
Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) in consultation with the
Environment Agency, and in accordance with the advice in PPS25, to
inform the preparation of local development plan documents and
provide a basis from which to apply the sequential test and
exception test in the development allocation and development
control process. The SFRA website can be reached through the link
to the Thames Gateway South Essex website listed below. Links are
also provided to an executive summary of the main SFRA study and to
a questions and answers document.