Written by A follow-up letter from SEPA has maintained their objection to the proposed development at Broomfield Place.
To quote from their letter:
Thank you for your consultation letter of 5 July 2010. We maintain our objection to this planning application on the grounds of a lack of information in relation to flood risk. We will remove this objection if the issues detailed in Section 1 below are adequately addressed. However, it should be noted that an adequate solution to the flood risk issues at this site is likely to be difficult to achieve.
Advice for the planning authority
1. Flood risk
1.1 We maintain our objection to the proposed development on the grounds that it may place buildings and persons at flood risk contrary to Scottish Planning Policy and Planning Advice Note (PAN) 69 ‘Planning and Building Standards Advice on Flooding’.
1.2 In the event that the planning authority proposes to grant planning permission contrary to this advice on flood risk the application must be notified to the Scottish Ministers as per The Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications) (Scotland) Direction 2009.
1.3 In previous correspondence dated 10 May 2010, we objected to this proposal and recommended that a flood risk assessment (FRA) be undertaken. An FRA carried out by McGregor McMahon has since been submitted and we can advise that on the 7 July 2010, SEPA met with McGregor McMahon to discuss the content of this in more detail.
1.4 The FRA clearly highlights that the site is at risk from flooding. A small watercourse which enters a culvert on Muir Road has in the past surcharged resulting in flood water flowing along Muir Road and down into Broomfield Place resulting in a number of houses being subjected to flooding. Within appendix F of the FRA, a number of photographs show the extent of flooding experienced in August 2008. This flood water derived from the upstream culvert eventually flows into the development site.
1.5 To mitigate this risk and to try and eliminate the flooding problems experienced by the existing properties on Muir Road and Broomfield Place, it is proposed to create a flood relief channel to the south of the site. The purpose of this channel is to capture any surcharged water from the culvert on Muir Road which would normally affect the above properties and proposed development site and divert it to an alternative watercourse to the east. Although this will decrease the risk of flooding to the developments on Broomfield Place and Muir Road, it will ultimately increase the risk of flooding to alternative areas, particularly the Freuchie Mill area which was severely affected by flooding in August 2008.
1.6 The proposal is therefore contrary to SPP as it will increase the risk of flooding to other areas. This was highlighted in our meeting with McGregor McMahon on 7 July 2010.
1.7 In light of the above, we maintain our objection to this proposal in relation to flood risk. We could only support the development if an alternative solution is proposed demonstrating that the development is located outwith the risk of flooding from the estimated 1 in 200 year flood event and will not increase the risk of flooding to neighbouring areas.
This advice is given without prejudice to any decision made on elements of the proposal regulated by us, which may take into account factors not considered at the planning stage.
It is heartening to see SEPA coming to the same conclusion as FFAG.
Read SEPA’s full response on the planning website:
http://planning.fife.gov.uk/online/caseFile.do?category=application&caseNo=10/00587/FULL
Technorati Tags: Broomfield Place, FFAG, flood, flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Flood Action Group
