From the latter end of 2004 there were procedure changes in the way local planning authorities consult the Environment Agency in regards to lower risk planning applications in flood risk areas. The purpose of this change is to allow local planning authorities to make decisions without the need of consultation. Therefore this will enable the Environment Agency to concentrate on higher risk developments and improve the quality and speed of decision making.
This change has been possible with the development of Standing Advice, some applicants might find this Standing Advice useful to understand what information would be required for flood risk assessment for any given development.
Coupled with this, the Environment Agency has done extensive work on producing updated flood risk maps of the UK. To find out if a site might need assessing against these identified risks, go to the Environment Agency Flood Risk Maps. Select 'flooding' from the menu bar to the left, then 'am I at risk of flooding', this will navigate you to the flood map section. It is possible to go direct to this map screen by typing the relevant postcode on the first menu screen.
