[ Draft Flood and Water Management Bill - Impacts to the Land and Property Sector ]

"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 and your business?

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 Land and Property Sector

• National Standards are to govern the way in which surface water drainage systems must be constructed, and how these operate. An approval system is also proposed for surface water drainage systems of the majority of new developments, including roads, in line with the national standards.

• Developers will be required to include sustainable drainage, where practicable, in new developments, built to standards which reduce flood damage and improve water quality. The right to connect surface water run-off to public sewers will be conditional on meeting the new standards. The responsibility for approving sustainable drainage systems, and adopting and maintaining them where they have an effect on more than one property, will generally be given to local authorities.

• Local authorities should be able to create designated Run-Off Reduction Zones in which they can introduce restrictions on land management practices for particular portions of land. These could include restrictions on permitted development and management practices; and compulsory improvements to drainage in portions of land implicated in run-off flooding.

• The EA’s hydromorphological powers may have an effect on all land and properties attached to or containing controlled waters due to its liability and obligations to modify such features to achieve good ecological status defined by the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

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.