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Ministers publish new Draft Planning System and Flood Risk Management Guidelines for Public Consultation

23/09/08

Mr. John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and Dr. Martin Mansergh, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Finance with responsibility for the OPW, today (22 September) jointly published for public consultation new draft Planning Guidelines on the Planning System and Flood Risk Management which are aimed at ensuring a more consistent, rigorous and systematic approach to fully incorporate flood risk assessment and management into the planning system.

The new draft guidelines which have been prepared in response to the recommendations of the National Flood Policy Review Group are focused on providing for comprehensive consideration of flood risk, both in preparing regional plans, development plans and local area plans, and in determining applications for planning permission in line with the principles of proper planning and sustainable development.  They also take account of environmental considerations including the need to manage the inevitable impacts of climate change, biodiversity etc., and the EU Directives on Flooding and the Water Framework Directive which established the concept of river basin management.

The draft guidelines will require the planning system at national, regional and local levels to:

1. Avoid development in areas at risk of flooding, such as floodplains, unless there are wider sustainability grounds that justify appropriate development; and where the flood risk can be reduced or managed to an acceptable level without increasing flood risk elsewhere;

2. Adopt a sequential approach to flood risk management and guide development away from areas that have been identified as being at risk through flood risk assessment; In areas of high risk, for example, you should see water-compatible developments such as docks and marinas, amenity open space, outdoor sports and recreation, while other more vulnerable development should be directed towards areas of minimal or no flood risk.

3. Incorporate flood risk assessment into the process of making decisions on planning applications and planning appeals.

An important context for these Guidelines is the need to adapt to inevitable impacts of climate change.  While our understanding of these impacts is still at an early stage and significant uncertainties remain to be resolved, research clearly demonstrates that Ireland's climate is already affected by the impacts of climate change and these will increase in the coming decades.  Future impacts are likely to be felt in every sector of the economy and may include both persistent long-term changes and acute short-term events.  Increased frequency and magnitude of flooding due to heavier rainfall, sea level rises and storm surges are among the most serious threats for Ireland.  Addressing flood risk management through the planning system is a key response and these Guidelines represent an important step in the process of national adaptation to climate change which is being developed and which will have to be implemented across society, from Government and public services to private enterprise and the general public.

In launching the draft Guidelines, Minister Gormley emphasised that there are many areas, including parts of our towns and cities, that are already at risk from periodic severe flooding as we witnessed again this Summer.  “The effects of climate change, such as more severe rainfall events and rising sea levels, will increase these risks and may put other areas at risk that may not have flooded in the past.  Adapting to the reality of climate change therefore requires us to be even more vigilant in ensuring that risks of flooding into the future are fully integrated into the planning process.  We are now ensuring through these guidelines that development vulnerable to flooding will no longer be permitted by planning authorities in areas at high or even moderate risk of flooding, except in exceptional circumstances where it is demonstrated to be necessary on grounds of wider sustainability and only then where it meets the criteria of the stringent Justification Test. 

“Zoning and re-zoning decisions must meet all of the criteria of this Justification Test, and furthermore, undeveloped zoned land for which new information indicates may now, or in the future, be at risk of flooding will have to be assessed in line with these Guidelines.”

The draft Guidelines also draw attention to the increasingly frequent trend of paving over entire residential garden areas to provide off-street car parking and the flood implications of this.  The Guidelines contain a commitment by the Department to review the Exempted Development Regulations to ensure that only paving complying with Sustainable Drainage principles will be exempted under the exempted development provisions of the Planning Acts.  In considering planning applications for new or extensions to residential development which includes significant hard surfacing, the Guidelines recommend that planning authorities should attach conditions to any grants of planning permissions which limits the extent of hard surfacing and / or requires the use of permeable paving or surfaces such as gravel or slate chippings.  Furthermore, the Guidelines are a key step towards a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and in this context, holistic policies for sustainable drainage systems will have to be fully considered.

Minister of State Mansergh also welcomed the guidelines and the positive effect they will have in managing flood risk, in particular for new homeowners and for future generations.  “These guidelines mark another significant step forward in the delivery of the flood risk management programme in Ireland that OPW has been pursuing since the Government approved the recommendations of the National Flood Policy Review in 2004. In October 2006 OPW launched the www.floodmaps.ie website to provide extensive information on historic flood events to planners and the public. Our programme to develop comprehensive predictive flood maps for the country is under way and we will continue to assist planners in performing their planning functions where flood risk is an issue of concern.”

The draft Guidelines have been developed, with the assistance of engineering and planning consultants, through close co-operation between the Government organisations with key responsibility for flooding - the Office of Public Works which is the lead agency with responsibility  for implementing flood management policy in Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in its role overseeing maritime and coastal issues and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with responsibility for the overall strategic approach to the integration of flood risk management into planning and development, and which also has responsibility for emergency planning and ensuring that local authorities and the emergency response agencies are geared to respond promptly and effectively to offset the worst effects of flooding. 

The draft guidelines are available to view and download from the Department’s website: www.environ.ie.  The closing date for receipt of comments and submissions is 4pm on Friday, 14 November 2008.

These guidelines, when finalised, will have statutory force under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. In this regard, the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill which the Minister is preparing to bring forward and publish over the coming months will include provisions to ensure planning authorities fully comply with guidelines.  Local authorities are requested to have regard to the recommended flood risk identification, assessment and management process, when preparing or varying development plans and local area plans, and in regard to applications for planning permission, pending finalisation of the Guidelines.

Submissions in relation to the draft guidelines should be sent to:

Catriona O’Donnell,
Spatial Policy Section,
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government,
Custom House,
Dublin 1

Or by Email: floodmgt@environ.ie

ENDS
23/09/08
 
Background Notes for Editors

These guidelines introduce comprehensive mechanisms for the incorporation of flood risk identification, assessment and management into the planning process, building upon the long-standing acknowledgement in the planning system of the importance of addressing the issue. Implementation of the guidelines will be achieved through actions at the national, regional, local authority and site specific levels.

At the national level:
· The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has introduced these guidelines as a comprehensive statement of good planning practice and which will become a key step towards a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. The Minister will further monitor the development plans of local authorities to ensure that they are prepared in a manner that is consistent with the guidelines.

· The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will review other publications with regard to design standards for surface water drainage systems in new development such as the Department’s “Recommendations for Site Development Works for Housing Areas” and will also review the provisions of the Exempted Development Regulations under planning legislation to encourage greater use of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) generally including the use of permeable paving techniques and porous surfacing.

· The Office of Public Works, as the lead agency for flood risk management in Ireland, will, together with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, continue its work in developing catchment-based Flood Risk Management Plans  (FRMPS) in partnership with local authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant departments and bodies in accordance with national flood policy and the EU Floods Directive.

· DEHLG and OPW will work with regional and local authorities in assisting with technical aspects of the implementation of these guidelines on an ongoing basis, learning from experience within Ireland and internationally.

At the regional level:
· In reviewing their Regional Planning Guidelines (RPGs) during 2009 and 2010, Regional Authorities will be required to prepare regional level strategic flood risk assessment as an integral input to the preparation of the next RPG’s and as a framework for ongoing co-ordination of the development plans of local authorities in their areas. The preparation of this element of the RPG’s will be co-ordinated with the work ongoing in preparing River Basin Management Plans (RBMP’s) under the EU Water Framework Directive and future work required to prepare Flood Risk Management Plans under the EU Floods Directive.

At City and County level:
· Planning authorities will introduce flood risk assessment carried out in accordance with these guidelines as an integral and leading element of the development planning functions under the Planning Code.

· The new flood risk assessment system will be aligned with the existing Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process introducing processes for screening for flood risk, scoping any flood risk assessment required and carrying out such assessments similar to the overall system for screening and scoping under SEA provision.

· City and County development plans will establish the overall flood risk assessment context for their functional areas including other planning authorities such as Town Councils and any local area plans (LAPs) which may be supplemented by any more detailed site-specific flood risk assessment required to comply with these guidelines at town plan/LAP level.

· Planning authorities will assess planning applications for development in accordance with the provisions of these guidelines, following the guidance of their own or any OPW strategic flood risk assessment and the application of the sequential approach and, if necessary, the Justification Test required by these guidelines.

· Development should not be permitted in flood risk areas, particularly floodplains, except where there are no alternative and appropriate sites available in areas at lower risk that are consistent with the objectives of proper planning and sustainable development. Where such development has to take place, in the case of urban regeneration for example, the type of development has to be carefully considered and the risks should be mitigated and managed through location, layout and design of the development to reduce flood risk to an acceptable level.

· Only developments consistent with the overall policy and technical approaches of these guidelines should be approved and permission should be refused where flood issues have not been, or cannot be, addressed successfully and where the presence of unacceptable residual flood risks to the development, its occupants or users and adjoining property remains. Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, planning permission refused for the reason that the proposed development is in an area which is at risk of flooding excludes compensation.

At the site-specific level, developers and their agents are required to:
· Carefully examine their development proposals to ensure consistency with the requirements of these guidelines including carefully researching whether there has been instances of flooding on specific sites and declaring any known flood history in the planning application form as required under the Planning and Development Regulations 2006.

· Engage with planning authorities at an early stage, utilising the arrangements for pre-planning application consultation with regard to any flood risk assessment issues that may arise.

· Carry out a site-specific flood risk assessment, as appropriate, and comply with the terms and conditions of any grant of planning permission with regard to the minimisation of flood risk.

Media queries:
Press and Information Office
Tel: (01) 888 2638  (direct)
(01) 888 2000
E-Mail: press-office@environ.ie
Web site: www.environ.ie

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