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Flood review calls for withdrawal of development rights

Ben Willis, PlanningResource, 17 December 2007

Householders should no longer have the automatic right to lay impermeable surfaces in gardens or driveways according to an independent review of the summer's flooding.

The measure is one of a number of proposals for mitigating surface flooding outlined by Sir Michael Pitt in his interim report on managing flood risk.

The report said that in urban areas, permitted development rights allowing private property owners to carry out works such as paving driveways can prevent the drainage of surface water, which accounts for two-thirds of all flood waters.

It concluded that in areas of high flood risk, this right should no longer be automatically assumed, and that the Environment Agency should take a lead in developing new surface water mapping and warning tools.

Pitt also said building regulations should be revised to require all new properties in flood risk areas to include flood resistance measures.

Any building proposed in a flood risk area that fails to meet these standards should not be approved, the report added.

Learning the Lessons From the 2007 Floods is available by clicking here

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