What is a Major Development and does it require a Flood Risk Assessment?

In England, any development that is located in Flood Zone 2, 3, or a Critical Drainage is required to be supported by a Flood Risk Assessment for planning. If the site area is equal to or greater than 1ha and located in Flood Zone 1, the development would require a flood risk assessment. Without a Flood Risk Assessment, there is a risk that the whole planning application could be rejected at planning and therefore not be validated. Costing time, money, as well as undue stress and delay.

​Each application therefore must be viewed individually; no application is the same. A Flood Risk Assessment replicates this and each assessment is unique. Each assessment is different due to multiple factors which can include environmental conditions, flood zone, type of development, and policy to name several.

How our team can support you

Major application developments tend to be much large in terms of development being proposed, but also geographical coverage.

This can result in a single site area consisting of multiple flood zones and sources of flood risk. This is why it’s strongly recommended to consult with flood risk experts early on a Major Development project to understand what risks there are to your site and plan where certain types of development would be best suited. Our team has supported many major applications as well developments that required Water Chapters to support Environmental Impact Assessments.

​​Our expert team team has supported major applications covering residential, commercial and mixed use developments. We work from the concept stage through pre-planning stages all the way through to submission of the application and detailed designs.

We can advise on the design, layout, and arrangement of a development.

If you are proposing a major development and not sure if you require a flood risk assessment or which flood zone you are located in, get in touch with one of our experts today.