Pragmatic strategy objectives
Binnies local authority flood risk experts have been working collaboratively with the London Borough of Havering to review and update their Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and Surface Water Management Plan. This has involved working with internal and external stakeholders to produce pragmatic strategy objectives and an action plan to ensure the reduction of local flood risk is truly embedded into the delivery of wider local strategies and plans.
Patricia Cuervo, Binnies Regional Delivery Manager, Flood, Coast & Maritime said
“An innovative risk assessment approach was developed which mapped current and future surface water flooding and receptors to flooding to produce surface water flooding hotspots called communities at risk. The outputs were validated with historic flood reports. We used these to rank the previous Drain London Critical Drainage Areas to enable the Council to prioritise actions on the areas with the highest risk of flooding. This assessment informed a multi criteria analysis of options to reduce flood risk, that considered Technical, Economic, Social and Environmental factors. The outputs of the analysis fed into a robust action plan. The information in the Strategy will support the Council to bid for external funding to implement flood risk projects that will bring multiple benefits to local residents and businesses”.
The Local Flood Risk Management Strategy is a statutory document that sets out the borough’s local sources of flood risk and the Council’s priorities to address them. The strategy considers wider policies, strategies and actions within Havering and other relevant authorities such as the Environment Agency, Water Companies, and Highways Authorities.
The Surface Water Management Plan is a non-statutory document prepared to specifically understand surface water flood risk and its interaction with other sources of flood risk. It is developed with local partners and includes an action plan with clear measures to manage flood risk locally. The plan provides robust surface water information which informed the review of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.
The London Borough of Havering is currently consulting on the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy to gather comments from residents, businesses and stakeholders to inform the final document.
View the consultation