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Flood Risk Assessment Review

We were appointed to review the methodology and modeling to inform a Flood Risk Assessment in Essex.

Requirements 

Customer: Essex County Council

We have a strong relationship with Essex County Council having delivered eight surface water management plans previously. The surface water management plans provide recommended action plans that the council can progress with to address surface water flooding potential, this includes within a context of strategic development. Essex, therefore, appointed us due to our expertise in flood risk in the context of planning to peer review a hydraulic model and flood risk assessment methodology which had been used to inform a flood risk assessment of a strategic development site.

Essex requested our expertise to confirm the quality of the original assessment and comment on its appropriateness as a basis for accepting planning permission and provide recommendations to improve the quality of the study and satisfy planning requirements and Environment Agency standards.

Solutions 

The in-depth review of the flood risk assessment identified several elements of the methodology which required further improvement. As part of the review, We engaged the Environment Agency for general comment on their expectations of the FRA methodology, and for local detail on any critical river network structures which may influence flow or water levels within the upstream catchment relevant to the development site.

By maintaining an open dialog with the client and with the Environment Agency, we were able to provide a list of key recommendations with a Red Amber Green approach based on the expected impact to quality and outcome of the Flood Risk Assessment. The list of recommendations were addressed by the planner and ultimately the Flood Risk Assessment was accepted by Essex County Council.

Benefits 

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