Saturday 18 January 2014

Concern for Flood Risk Advice

Experts have voiced fears that cuts to the Environment Agency's budget could mean that its role as an adviser to councils on the implications of development proposals on flood risk will be less effective.

The Environment Agency, which coordinated the response in England to the recent flooding, is a statutory consultee for specified categories of development where flood risk is an issue. In 2012/13 it provided detailed flood risk advice on nearly 9,000 developments.

Environment secretary Owen Paterson told MPs last week that it would be "absurd, given the knowledge that we now have, to build houses or anything else on a flood plain". He said that the agency is "active in vetting planning applications".

But experts have raised concern that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' cuts to the agency's budget could affect its ability to provide advice to councils on the flood risk implications of proposed developments.

Read the full article on Enzygo's website.

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