The Flood and Water Management Act 2010, enacted by government in response to the recommendations of The Pitt Review, designated unitary and county councils as lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) with new responsibilities for leading and co-ordinating the management of local flood risk; namely the flood risk arising from surface water runoff, groundwater and ordinary watercourses. This includes a statutory duty to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a strategy for the management of local flood risk.

In the spirit of the act, and recognising the current economic climate, Shropshire Council and Staffordshire County Council have entered a collaborative working agreement to assist in fulfilling their duties as LLFAs.

This Local Flood Risk Management Strategy formalises our longer term vision and shapes individual priorities that deliver the greatest benefit to the people, property and environment of Shropshire and Staffordshire. The strategy covers local sources of flooding and is consistent with the Environment Agency’s National Flood Risk Management Strategy.

What the strategy sets out

• Which organisations have responsibility for flood risk management in Shropshire
• Partnership arrangements to ensure co-ordination between responsible organisations
• Actions for all organisations managing flood risk
• How we prioritise where to take action so that the greatest benefits for those who flood can be realised
• Where funding comes from
• How we can enhance the environment

Our policies

The strategy also sets out what our policies are as the LLFA for Shropshire. This includes information on:

• When we'll investigate flooding incidents
• How we'll collate data on flood risk assets
• Where we'll designate third party assets affecting flood risk
• How we'll respond to planning applications
• How we'll work with others to develop flood risk schemes
• How we'll preserve watercourses in their natural state
• When we'll take land drainage enforcement action
• How we'll seek to improve the environment

How we'll monitor progress

The strategy action plan will be monitored by the joint steering group and project board that we've set up with Staffordshire County Council. We'll publish an annual statement which outlines where we've taken action in line with our priorities. The first statement is due in 2016.

Assessing the impacts on the environment

Under European legislation, we've produced a strategic environment assessment (SEA) and habitat regulations assessment to ensure that we don't accidentally take actions that might damage the environment.

Strategic environmental assessment

The SEA post-adoption statement to follow will outline how monitoring of the potential environmental impacts will be undertaken.

Habitats regulations assessment

A preliminary habitat regulations assessment has also been completed. It concluded that, with some minor changes to the strategy, European designated sites are not likely to be significantly negatively affected by any plans or projects.

These changes have now been made to the strategy.

The habitats regulations assessment will be published in early 2016 following a consultation period with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Documents

The Local Flood Risk Management Strategy for Shropshire consists of the following documents: