§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to purchase Geodesign Pallet Barriers to prevent flood damage in(a) the Vale of York and (b) elsewhere; and what assessment she has made of their effectiveness. [143879]
§ Mr. MorleyWe have no plans to purchase such barriers. Purchase would be a matter for the operating authorities to decide.
The Environment Agency are currently trialling pallet barriers and other temporary, moveable defences on the River Severn. Once these trails are completed the Agency's assessment will be made available to other operating authorities. The usefulness of such moveable defences will be a matter for the Agency and local authorities to determine in light of local conditions.
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which agency is responsible for ground water flooding. [146225]
§ Mr. MorleyNo agency has direct responsibility for groundwater flooding and any remedial action would generally fall to the relevant landowner. The Environment Agency has powers to undertake works in relation to flooding from main rivers and the sea and also exercises a general supervisory duty over all flood defence matters. For ordinary watercourses these powers rest with local authorities and the internal drainage boards. However, the Environment Agency may, depending on the circumstances, be in a position to offer advice.
As part of the Department's on-going work to develop a new Government-wide strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management for England, a project is currently underway to scope the extent of groundwater flooding events and the present administrative arrangements.
Further information on the strategy is available via www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/policy/strategy.
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account planning authorities are required to take of the risk of ground water flooding; and whether planning permission can be refused in areas where ground water flooding is known to have occurred. [146226]
§ Keith HillI have been asked to reply.
Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG) 25 Development and flood risk advises that "the susceptibility of land to flooding is a material planning consideration". It advises the use of a risk-based approach based on a sequential test that gives priority to development in lower-risk zones.
437WPPG 25 advises specifically that the flood zones in its sequential test cover only river, tidal and coastal flooding but that locally an assessment may be needed of the risk of groundwater flooding in any of the zones. Such an assessment should be given appropriate weight alongside other material considerations by local planning authorities in determining applications. A high risk of groundwater flooding or failure to provide an assessment of flood risk that is appropriate to the scale and nature of the development and the risks involved can be reasons for refusal of permission.