Building on the flood plain and the Environment Agency's role
During the delivery of your development, it is likely that you will encounter the Environment Agency. This is necessary if your development needs a flood risk assessment. We have created this quick guide which illustrates the role of the Environment Agency in your development’s journey and gives you pointers on how to manage their consultation process.
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT STAGE / RIBA STAGE 2-3 - BEFORE PLANNING
The Environment Agency is a prescribed consultee under the 2008 Act and secondary legislation made under it and may become an interested 3rd party in the examination process. The Environment Agency, like all prescribed consultees, will input into the pre-application stage. The Environment Agency recommends that applicants review the appropriate National Policy Statements (NPSs).
How to start the consultation: The consultation starts by submitting the Flood Risk Assessment for comments. The initial consultation is free. For detailed feedback there is a charge between £84/hr to £125/hr. It usually takes to revise the flood risk assessment.
Timescales: 4-12 weeks. The consultation should start at the earliest possible time in order to ensure regulatory timescale requirements such as the 20 working days for the initial response.
Key Elements during this consultation: The Environment Agency will focus their feedback on flood risk and ecological risks.
With regards to the flood risk, their concern is the flood risk assessment compliance with the National Planning Policy Framework and the appropriate National Policy Statements. The NPPF sets the requirements to protect people and property from flooding. All local planning authorities are expected to follow it. If these tests are not met, the NPPF is clear that new developments should not be allowed.
With regards to the ecological risks, the Environment Agency will look at the local council planning policies and the location of the development in relation to wildlife corridors, Special Areas of Conservation, SSSI, Local Wildlife Site, Sites of Local Interest for Nature Conservation, Local Nature Reserves and RIGS. The closer the development is to any of these sites the more important the ecological risk becomes.
DEVELOPED DESIGN / RIBA STAGE 3 - DURING PLANNING
The Environment Agency is a statutory consultee during the planning application. The environment agency will give a free substantive response to the statutory consultation under s.42 of the 2008 Act. It includes ecology and flood risk advice to the Local Planning Authority.
How to start the consultation: The local planning officer sends all the relevant documents to the Environment Agency for their feedback. The Environment Agency planning adviser will consult their ecologist and technical department and provide the relevant approval or objection of the development. It is possible that Environment Agency outcome at this stage is different than the one provided during the pre-planning application consultation.
Timescales: The time to get the initial feedback is the statutory 21 working days; however it will take as long as necessary to satisfy any objection or query raised by the Environment Agency.
Key elements during this stage: The most important element in the planning application is that the design and access statement, landscape layout, architectural intent, ecology reports and flood risk report emphasise the development's positive contribution to the environment and their flood and ecological mitigation or enhancing strategies.
DETAILED DESIGN / RIBA STAGE 4 / PRE-CONSTRUCTION - AFTER PLANNING
The Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 apply to any project which takes place:
Within, under or over a main river
Within 8m of a main river bank or 16m of a tidal flood defence structure
Within the floodplain of a main river
For quarrying or excavation, within 16m of a flood defence
If your project falls within these regulated activities, then you must consult the Environment Agency or obtain a Flood Risk Activities Environmental Permit.
How to start the consultation: The Environment Agency preliminary opinion consultation can start by submitting the planning approval documents and the design drawings. This preliminary opinion will indicate one of three positions in relation to the permit:
Position 1 – No major permitting concerns
Position 2 – More detailed consideration is required and parallel tracking is recommended
Position 3 – Don’t proceed – unlikely to grant a permit.
The regulated activities fall into two types:
Type 1: Activities that don’t require permission before you start work. These are excluded activities as long as the description and conditions of the given exclusion are followed during construction. There are no fees and no timescales associated with it. Work can commence on site at any convenient time.
Type 2: Activities that require permission before you can start work. Depending on your development size, there can be three possible permits that you can apply for:
Exemptions
Standard rule permit
Bespoke permit
Timescales: These timescales are general and vary depending on the complexity of the development and the consultations that the Environment Agency undertake.
Preliminary: 20 working days
Exemptions: 1 week
Standard rule: 20 working days
Bespoke permit: 5 months
Key elements during this stage: Get a contractor that has experience on working in the proximity to rivers. Appoint the contractor early in advance as the Environment Agency may require the Risk Assessment Method Statemements five months in advance of starting the project on site.