Flood Risk Assessment for Agricultural Land
Developments on agricultural land can vary in their flood risk, vulnerability classification, and scale. The policy that relates to them can also vary, making agricultural developments potentially more complex than city developments.
Our team can support your project to ensure it complies with all National and Local planning policies and create necessary mitigation strategies if your site is found to be at a risk of flooding.
Learn more about how flood risk affects planning on agricultural land
We have summarized the useful and key information required to better understand how flood risk impacts your agricultural land and the importance of a Flood Risk Assessment.
Do I need a Flood Risk Assessment for a project on agricultural land?
The policy in the UK is the same whether your land is agricultural or not. If your site is within Flood Zone 2 or 3, or it’s within a Critical Drainage Area, your development will require a Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) no matter where it is in the UK. If your project is within Flood Zone 1, you’ll only be required to have an FRA with your planning documents if your site area is equal to or greater than 1 hectare.
However, your local authority may want you to get an FRA anyway, so it’s always best to check at the start of your design phase to prevent any costly changes happening further down the line. We always recommend bringing on a flood consultant at the conception stage. This will give you the knowledge you need to understand where to best place your buildings or development on your site in order to comply with policy regulations while building appropriate mitigation measures from the start, rather than needing costly design changes at the last minute.
Agricultural land and buildings can range across all vulnerability classifications according to the National Planning Practice Guidance. This is another reason to get a flood risk consultant on your project early – there are some very strict guidelines on what is and isn’t allowed according to their vulnerability. Your consultant can best advise you from the start if your project is viable and whether it’s worth investing in, or if it needs to be moved elsewhere.
You may also need a sequential test or an exception test in order to gain planning approval. This is something your flood risk consultant can support you with.
Need a Flood Risk Assessment? Our team are ready to support you.
Agricultural Land – Our Project Experience
Our team have supported projects across the country on numerous agricultural projects. Such as;
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Barns – storage of equipment / livestock and feed
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Horse Menage/ Stables
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Greenhouses – supporting the growth of food/produce and horticulture.
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Management of land, including soil transfer to prevent fields being as flooded to support greater use by livestock in winter months.
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Development of the land to support Solar Farms and other activities to generate electricity.
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Development of the land to Residential Development
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Creation of lakes for fisheries as well as other leisure and recreational activities
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Change of use to provide campsites.
No application is the same. Each assessment we do is unique, especially the approach and methods applied to each development.
How our team can support you
The scale of development on agricultural sites can be much larger in compared to other types of development. This means one site may potential contain multiple sources of flooding, a range of flood risks, and need vastly different mitigation measures. Aegaea have experience in dealing with this level of site scale and complexity.
Our team has experience in supporting 1,000 projects across England and welcome the opportunity to support you with your project. We can work from the pre-planning stages through to submission of the application advising on the design, layout, and mitigation measures of development.
If you are proposing a development or submitting a planning application on agricultural land and not sure if you require a flood risk assessment or which flood zone you are located in, contact our team via the form below and we’ll give you a call and advise you on what you need.
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