Houses can be built on floodplains even if they fail a crucial safety test, according to a high court judgment that will be of “immense interest” to developers across England and Wales. The ruling clears the way for a highly controversial development of 190 new homes on north Somerset’s floodplains, despite the site being in “flood zone 3a”, the highest level of flood risk before land is considered a functional floodplain. Ministers and experts are so disturbed by the decision that it was agreed at a flood resilience conference on Wednesday to campaign for a change in the law that would stop the ruling setting a national precedent.
As a result, Tessa Munt, the chair of the flooding and flooded communities all-party parliamentary group (APPG), will now meet Matthew Pennycook, the housing and planning minister, to ask him to change the national planning policy framework (NPPF). His chambers, Keating Chambers, said the result was “hugely important”. Persimmon Homes won permission despite failing the “sequential test”, which is designed to be the ultimate barrier for floodplain development UK planning policy, after the inspector found 12 alternative sites at less risk of flooding.
They also overcame heavy opposition from politicians, local and regional tiers of authority and locals – many of whom fear houses surrounding the site will be at increased risk of flooding. Munt said the high court judgment “flies in the face of everything insurers, lenders, Flood Re – a joint UK government and insurance industry initiative that makes the flood cover part of household insurance policies affordable – the Environment Agency and Defra are trying to do on a national policy level”. The Environment Agency objected to the development on flood risk grounds.
But the high court agreed that even though the sequential test had failed, the inspector was entitled to consider the development’s wider benefits and whether it could be made safe for its lifetime when weighing the application. Annemieke Waite, North Somerset council’s cabinet member for planning and environment, accused Persimmon of exploiting a legal loophole. With just a few hours’ notice, 51 residents converged at the site earlier this week to meet the Guardian’s photographer, many leaving work early to be there – and one coming straight from a hospital bed.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
