[ Draft Flood and Water Management Bill - Impacts to the General Public ]

"The drought in South East England in 2004-06 and the nationwide floods of Summer 2007 brought home to us what climate change means. We need to be better prepared in the future for both flood and droughts, and ensure that we manage our water resources sustainably."

Draft Flood and Water Management Bill, April 2009

What does this mean for you?

Our policy team has been working hard over the past few weeks evaluating the proposed changes detailed within the Draft Flood and Water Management Bill.
We have summarised the key points below…

Impacts to the General Public

• At present, people who are affected by flooding from ordinary watercourses can ask the local authority to issue a notice, but their only other course of action is to go to the civil courts. Access to the ALT (Agricultural Land Tribunal) would provide an additional, and simpler, course of action in such cases. It is recommended that the powers of the ALT are expanded to include all ordinary watercourses and potentially, Main Rivers.

• The Draft Flood Bill seeks to create a new statutory nuisance to reverse actions that aggravate surface run-off risk.

• Further, the Bill will create a statutory nuisance of ‘obstructing a watercourse’.

Need to find out more about the Draft Bill or flood risk issues in general? Contact us now for a free consultation on +44(0)1273 704 441 or to obtain your personalised summary review of the Draft Flood and Water Management Bill.