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The Environment Agency aims to reduce and protect against flood risk, whilst protecting and
enhancing the water environment, land, and biodiversity. To assist us in the West Midlands Area
in providing the most focused and accurate consultation responses through the Neighbourhood
Planning process we have produced the below guidance and pro-forma for you to consider,
complete and return to the Planning Policy Team at Warwick District Council.
You may wish to also refer to the Neighbourhood planning - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) guidance to
assist you in the preparation of your Plan.
The Environment Agency, along with Natural England, Historic England, and the Forestry
Commission (now known as Forestry England), has also produced some national guidance which
offers further environmentally specific information in the context of Neighbourhood Planning and
gives ideas on incorporating the environment into Plans. The guidance is available at: How to
consider the environment in Neighbourhood plans.
In the context of Climate Change there is further information on writing a low-carbon
Neighbourhood Plan available at: How to write a neighbourhood plan in a climate emergency.
To compliment the above we have produced the following guidance to assist you in the West
Midlands Area specifically. This takes you through some of the relevant environmental issues your
community should consider when producing a Neighbourhood Plan. We recommend completing
the pro-forma to check the environmental constraints specific to your Plan area, which should help
identify challenges, inform evidence and policy, and assist delivery of sustainable solutions. This
approach will help ensure you have a robust Plan.
Flood Risk: Your Plan should conform to national and local policies on flood risk. National
Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – Paragraph 165 states that ‘Inappropriate development in
areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest
risk (whether existing or future). Where development is necessary in such areas, the development
should be made safe for its lifetime without increasing flood risk elsewhere’.
With reference to the adopted Warwick District Local Plan (2011-2029) it is important that
your Plan is in accordance with Policy FW1 – Reducing Flood Risk and the associated text.
New Local Plan - Download - Warwick District Council (warwickdc.gov.uk)
If your Plan is proposing sites for development you should check whether any of the proposed
allocations are at risk of river or tidal flooding based on our Flood Map (of modelled flood risk). For
example, are there any areas of Flood Zone 3 or 2 (High and Medium Risk). In line with National
Planning Policy and, specifically, the Sequential Test, you should aim to locate built development
within Flood Zone 1, the low-risk Zone. Our Flood Map can be accessed via the following link:
Check the long term flood risk for an area in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In addition to the above you should also check with the Council’s Planning Policy Team with
regards to other sources of flooding (such as surface water, groundwater, sewers, and historic
flooding) as detailed in their Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA). Warwickshire County
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Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA), has responsibility for local flood risk
management and may hold flooding information that is not identified on our Flood Map.
Specifically, some watercourses have not been modelled on our Flood Maps (Our Flood Maps
primarily show flooding from Main Rivers, not ordinary watercourses, or un-modelled rivers, with a
catchment of less than 3km2
). The SFRA also gives information on the ‘functional floodplain’, also
known as Flood Zone 3b. The National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG) shows the different
Flood Zones in Table 1 in the Flood Risk and Coastal Change Section: Flood risk and coastal
change - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Any allocations in areas of flood risk should include a consideration of climate change (see
below). In the absence of up-to-date modelled flood risk information, or a site-specific FRA, to
confirm an appropriate allowance you may wish to utilise the current Flood Zone 2 extent (where
available) to indicate the likely, nominal, Flood Zone 3 with climate change extent. Where no
modelling or flood map outline is available you will need to consider an alternative approach.
Where an un-modelled watercourse is present, or adjacent to a site, then it may be prudent to
incorporate a buffer zone, relative to topography, in consideration of flood risk not shown on the
Flood Map.
Some assessment is necessary in your Plan, to confirm that the site is developable. This includes
safe occupation and that there will be no impact on third parties. You might seek opportunities to
reduce flood risk.
All 'major development' sites with flood risk issues, especially those with ordinary watercourses or
un-modelled rivers within/adjacent or near to sites, are likely to need detailed modelling at the
planning application stage to verify the design flood extents, developable areas and that the
development will be sustainable.
Climate Change: Your Local Authority's SFRA should indicate the extent of flood zones with
likely climate change. The NPPG refers to Environment Agency guidance on considering climate
change in planning decisions which is available online: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-riskassessments-climate-change-allowances .
Please refer to our separate ‘Area Climate Change Guidance’ (March 2023) for more information
on how to consider and incorporate allowances in development proposals. This advises that an
allowance should be added to ‘peak river flows’ to account for ‘climate change’ which should be
specific to a river ‘management catchment’.
You may wish to use the following link in conjunction with our Area Specific Climate Change
Guidance to ascertain the correct climate change peak flows allowances in your area: Climate
change allowances for peak river flow in England (data.gov.uk).
Surface water (peak rainfall intensity) climate change allowances should be discussed with the
LLFA.
Flood Defences: Areas of your Parish, or proposed sites, may be afforded protection by a flood
defence/alleviation scheme. Where this is the case, your Plan should acknowledge this and
identify the level of protection provided (including any climate change allowance). It should be
noted that flood defences are intended to protect existing properties and are not to facilitate new
development in areas that would otherwise be impacted by flooding. Any assessment of
development behind flood defences should consider the impacts of a breach or overtopping.
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Where it is determined that new development should be behind a flood defence financial
contributions may be sought to maintain or improve the structure.
Waste Water Infrastructure: Waste water infrastructure is also of importance in your Plan.
Where housing is proposed you should use the pro-forma to identify the receiving treatment works
and whether the housing and/or any employment growth can be accommodated without impacting
the receiving treatment works. You should look at physical capacity issues (e.g. network pipes)
and environmental capacity (quality of treated effluent) issues. In addition you should contact the
Water Company for further advice.
Where there is an identified constraint (amber or red) you should demonstrate that there is a
solution (it may be already programmed or could be a possible future infrastructure upgrade) to
help improve the capacity issue and enable the development to go ahead. This will require
consultation with the Water Company, and we have developed some general questions to assist
this process. The outcome of this may inform a ‘phasing’ policy within your plan where
appropriate. It may also be necessary to produce an ‘Infrastructure Delivery Plan’ to set out any
key milestones for wastewater infrastructure upgrades and improvements. The evidence you
produce should give a reasonable degree of certainty to all parties, helping demonstrate
development is deliverable, and importantly ensure that your plan is ‘sound’.
Note: Government Guidance states that sufficient detail should be provided to give clarity to all
parties on when infrastructure upgrades will be provided, looking at the needs and costs (what
and how much). The NPPG refers to “ensuring viability and deliverability – pursuing sustainable
development requires careful attention to viability and costs in plan making and decision making”.
Plans should be “deliverable”.
We would recommend discussions with the Utility Company to ascertain how you can progress
with your Plan without impact on the works. To assist in these discussions, we would recommend
the following:
• What solutions are programmed within Asset Management Plans (AMP)? When will these
solutions be delivered? Are there any options for accelerating these schemes via developer
contributions?
• In the absence of any improvement schemes what could alternative solutions be (type and
location of) for short/medium/long term growth. Are these solutions cost prohibitive?
• Are there any short-term options to facilitate growth? Some options to consider could be
SUDS retrofitting or removing surface water from sewer systems.
• Utility companies could be asked about what Water Framework Directive (WFD) work they
already have programmed in to their AMP Schemes for Phosphate stripping or other
sanitaries (e.g. ammonia/Biological Oxygen Demand).
• With reference to the Nutrient Management Plan (where this is relevant), and Phosphate
specific issues, are there any stringent measures factored in to ensure no environmental
deterioration? What improvement scheme is, or could be, in place to bring forward
development?
Water Management and Groundwater Protection: In February 2011, the Government signalled
its belief that more locally focussed decision making, and action should sit at the heart of
improvements to the water environment. This is widely known as the catchment-based approach
and has been adopted to deliver requirements under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). It
seeks to:
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• deliver positive and sustained outcomes for the water environment by promoting a better
understanding of the environment at a local level; and
• encourage local collaboration and more transparent decision-making when both planning and
delivering activities to improve the water environment.
Neighbourhood Plans provide an opportunity to deliver multi-functional benefits through linking
development with enhancements to the water environment. Local WFD catchment data can be
obtained from: River Basin Catchment Data Explorer.
Aquifers and Source Protection Zones (SPZs): Some of your local area, and specific potential
site allocations, may be located upon or within aquifers and Source Protection Zones (link below).
SPZ 1 is especially sensitive. You might consider these within your Plan and when allocating
sites. The relevance of the designation and the potential implication upon development proposals
should be seen with reference to our Groundwater Protection Position Statements:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/groundwater-protection-position-statements
Development and surface water drainage will need to be carefully located and designed to avoid
pollution risks to waters and address potential environmental impact associated with low
flows. For example SuDS may need to provide multiple levels of treatment. To address any
quantitative issues with the waterbodies, SuDS should be designed so as to maximise recharge to
the aquifer and support water levels in receiving rivers.
Water Efficiency at Neighbourhood Plan Level: Local Water Efficiency targets may be secured
in a neighbourhood plan or higher-level local plan policy. The draft Technical Standards – Housing
Standards Review (Paragraph 14) provided advice on more stringent ('optional') water efficiency
targets/measures, which go beyond the minimum building regulations standard. Paragraph 14
states that..."Neighbourhood Planning Bodies will only be able to apply the space standard and
not optional requirements”.
These standards have since been enshrined into the Building Regulations (part G) “The optional
requirement only applies where a condition that the dwelling should meet the optional requirement
is imposed as part of the process of granting planning permission. Where it applies, the estimated
consumption of wholesome water calculated in accordance with the methodology in the water
efficiency calculator, should not exceed 110 litres/person/day”. However, there is no direct
responsibility for Neighbourhood Plans to incorporate these water efficiency measures.
Cemetery Allocations: Allocations for cemeteries brought forwards within Neighbourhood Plans
must consider their location in relation to Flood Zones, Source Protection Zones (Any Borehole,
including private boreholes, for potable supply should be considered) and Type of Aquifer. We
would offer comments primarily in relation to the protection of controlled waters (i.e. groundwater
and surface water). Matters relating to human health should be directed to the Local Authority. If
steps are not taken to reduce the risks, burials can present a risk to the water environment. The
proposed burial ground will need to meet our minimum groundwater protection requirements as
set out in the following document: Protecting groundwater from human burials - GOV.UK
(www.gov.uk) .
Biodiversity Net Gain: Development of allocated sites offers the opportunity for Biodiversity Net
Gain (BNG) as referenced in Paragraphs 180, 185 and 186 of the NPPF ‘Conserving and
enhancing the natural environment’. Specifically, any ponds and flood storage areas if designed
correctly could also provide opportunity for blue and green infrastructure, such as wetland habitat
throughout the year as well as providing a recreation amenity.
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Whilst we would not necessarily expect to see specific BNG details for allocations within the Plan,
there may be an opportunity to promote ‘Net Gains’ within your Policies.
Please see Biodiversity net gain - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Biodiversity Net Gain for local
authorities | Local Government Association for further information.
Neighbourhood Plan Environment Agency Pro-Forma
Site Allocation
Description
e.g. name,
type and
number of
units.
Flood
Zone
(3/2/1) *
Unmodelled
river or ordinary
watercourse in
or adjacent to
site
Other
sources of
flooding
(e.g. SW,
GW, SF)
Flood
Defence
Aquifer/Source
Protection Zone 1
(Description)
Environmental
Capacity at
Treatment Works
(Red – potential
showstopper,
Amber – possible
problem; or Green
– likely to be no
issues)
Example 2 Y SW N N Amber
Y/N Y/N Y/N
Y/N Y/N Y/N
Y/N Y/N Y/N
Y/N Y/N Y/N
Y/N Y/N Y/N
Y/N Y/N Y/N
Y/N Y/N Y/N
*Note to above: Flood Zone 3 is the high-risk zone and is defined for mapping purposes by the Environment
Agency's Flood Zone Map. Flood Zone 3 refers to land where the indicative annual probability of flooding is 1 in 100
years or less from river sources (i.e. it has a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year). Flood Zone 2 is land
where the indicative annual probability of flooding is between 1 in 100 and 1 in 1000 years. Flood Zone 1 is the lowrisk Zone with a flood risk in excess of 1 in 1000 years.
When considering ‘other sources of flooding’ you should refer to the SFRA and contact Warwick District Council to
ascertain whether the Parish, or specific allocated site, is impacted by surface water, groundwater, or sewer flooding
etc. The team and/or the LLFA may also have historic flooding information to help inform your plan. More information
on sewer flooding, or plans to remedy such, may be available from the Water Company.