Homes plan cannot rely on flood scheme, says agency

Residents suffered flooding after the River Thames burst its banks in February 2014

A Surrey council’s development plan for 9,000 new homes should not rely on a proposed scheme aiming to reduce flooding, the Environment Agency (EA) has said.

The agency told Spelthorne Borough Council there were “significant concerns” some sites may not meet national guidelines on developments being safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere.

Judith Montford, the agency's planning specialist, told the council in a letter that issues could be overcome and the EA would continue to work with the authority.

The council responded that it “clearly” wanted all residents to be safe.

The council’s local plan sets out where and when new homes will be built up to 2037.

The River Thames Scheme, a partnership between Surrey County Council, the Environment Agency and borough councils, aims to reduce flooding risk for 11,000 homes and 1,600 businesses between Egham and Teddington.

The plans, which were subject of a public consultation, do not yet have permission, and will only reduce flood risk when “constructed and operational”, Miss Montford said.

She said a council strategic flood risk assessment (SFRA) would not be endorsed by the EA if it was reliant on the River Thames Scheme being carried out.

Malcolm Beecher, chair of Spelthorne Borough Council’s environment and sustainability committee, said the EA’s promise to continue to collaborate was positive.

He said high-risk sites were now scheduled for later in the plan timeline, and that the council believed including some sites which were dependent on the scheme “would be reasonable”.

The council was “struggling to understand” why the plan could not rely on the scheme being place, he added, considering those sites would only be redeveloped once the flooding risk had been reduced.

The Riverside Residents (Staines) Coalition, which represents six residents’ associations, said the EA letter added “more weight” to residents’ concerns about new homes being built in Staines.

“It also comes at a time when residents are all too aware of flood-risk in the town and the potential for big new developments to increase the risk,” a coalition spokesperson said.