Inappropriate building on flood plains must stop – John Healey

Tuesday, 25 February 2020 10:01

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to proposals from the head of the Environment Agency to restrict housebuilding on flood plains, said: “In the absence of any leadership from the Prime Minister, the Environment Agency is right to speak out about the risks of housebuilding on flood plains. “Inappropriate building on flood plains must stop and the Government should act now to give councils and the...Request free trial

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to proposals from the head of the Environment Agency to restrict housebuilding on flood plains, said:

“In the absence of any leadership from the Prime Minister, the Environment Agency is right to speak out about the risks of housebuilding on flood plains.

“Inappropriate building on flood plains must stop and the Government should act now to give councils and the Environment Agency the funding and powers to stop unsuitable development and to insist on flood resistant design in all areas at risk of flooding.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

The Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Sir James Bevan was interviewed on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, ahead of a speech he is expected to give this afternoon https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51620992.

Labour is challenging the government to:

Fund council planning departments properly and toughen up the rules to stop developers building inappropriate housing in high-risk areas such as flood plains.
Give the Environment Agency powers to take a more robust approach to halting planned development where there is serious risk of flooding.
Produce a new national design guide for building housing in areas at risk of flooding, and work with house builders and councils to ensure it is implemented.

Conservative cuts to local government have meant that planning departments are have less capacity to scrutinise and challenge applications. The LGA has found that between 2010 and 2020, councils will have lost 60p out of every £1 they had from central government to run local services: https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/one-three-councils-fear-funding-legal-duties-will-run-out-within-three-years

An IFS report released in November last year showed the stark effect of Tory austerity on planning departments: “Councils’ spending is increasingly focused on social care services – now 57% of all service budgets. This reflects the fact that councils have cut what they spend themselves on housing, transport, planning, and cultural and leisure services by 40% or more per person in order to limit cuts to social care services.” https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14563

The Government National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Practice Guidance on Flood Risk and Costal Change are the Government’s principal documents giving guidance to councils on flooding. It does not mandate councils to not build on flood plains, merely requests ithttps://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7517#fullreport

A recent report by the Committee on Climate Change entitled ‘UK housing: Fit for the future?’ said bluntly: “UK homes are not fit for the future. Greenhouse gas emission reductions from UK housing have stalled, and efforts to adapt the housing stock for higher temperatures, flooding and water scarcity are falling far behind the increase in risk from the changing climate.” https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/uk-housing-fit-for-the-future/