Flood zones under the planning spotlight
By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter
Powys County Councillors are being urged to have their say on a revamp of planning technical advice notes on flood zones.
At the latest planning meeting, the discussion on flood zones came after an appeal result was noted by the committee.
Cllr Jonathan Wilkinson said: “Sorry to bang on but I believe so passionately that it’s wrong.
“This is noted as being in zone C2 as distinct from zone C1, which is a flood zone of lower risk due to infrastructure including flood prevention. I don’t believe sufficient note is made of areas that are protected by flood protection measures.
“In my ward, there’s a perfect example of that where there is a village completely protected by substantial flood prevention measure, but there is no development allowed.”
Planning development manager, Peter Morris, said: “I don’t know if it’s come out to the members yet, but the Welsh Government is in the process of reviewing the Technical Advice Note (TAN) on flooding. They are inviting views on the draft TAN at the moment.”
Mr Morris was unsure when the consultation finished and added: “I welcome any comments, examples would be good, holding off development in certain areas is certainly a criticism of regeneration projects that could be falling in other areas of Wales.”
Mr Morris said that responses from councillors would be collected which could go to cabinet before they are sent to the Welsh Government as an official response to the consultation from PCC.
The appeal that sparked the discussion was made by Andrew Lloyd against a decision by PCC to refuse outline planning permission to build a house at land east of Dyffryn, Chapel Lane, Llanymynech. Planning inspector Alan McCooey dismissed the appeal.
In his judgment, Mr McCooey said: “I conclude that the proposal would be contrary to the current Welsh Government policy contained in Planning Policy Wales and the TAN 15, which aims to direct new development away from the areas at risk of flooding.”
The Welsh Government consultation on TAN 15 is open until January 17, 2020.
In the new TAN they are looking to:
· replace the development advice map with a new Wales flood map
· place a greater emphasis on the development plan and the value of strategic flood consequences assessments
· integrate guidance on coastal erosion with flood risk issues in TAN 15
· provide guidance for regeneration initiatives affecting communities in flood risk areas.
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