Policy information sourced from the Barking & Dagenham Local Plan

DMNE 4 Water environment

Rivers, waterways and watercourses

1.

Development proposals within and adjacent to rivers and waterways will be required to:

  • contribute to achieving the objectives of the Thames River Basin Management Plan, Water Framework Directive or updated equivalent and catchment partnership local measures
  • protect and enhance biodiversity and geomorphology in and along watercourses, banks and waterways, adjacent terrestrial habitats, the foreshore and the floodplain
  • improve water quality, including reducing or minimising pollution from adjacent land and roads (e.g. by using oil interceptors in car parks) and improve the ecological status of waterbodies (e.g. by investigating and rectifying misconnections, retrofitting sustainable urban drainage systems, fitting hydrocarbon interceptors and creating and restoring wetlands)
  • conserve the waterways and consider them as part of a cohesive place-making strategy tailored to local context
  • avoid harm or negative impacts on navigation and use of existing waterways
  • conserve and enhance the existing character of the waterway and its setting
  • provide open space for recreation, habitat provision and increasing the blue space network, which can also be used to store excess floodwater, where appropriate
  • provide a naturalised buffer zone between the proposed development and the top of bank of any nearby watercourse, landward extent of a flood defence, and its underground structures (including tie rods and anchors) or body of water as follows:
    1. at least 16m for tidal watercourses
    2. at least 8m for fluvial main watercourses
    3. at least 8m for an ordinary watercourse
    4. at least 5m buffer around ponds or other standing water bodies
    5. buffer zones should not include development, hard standing, paths or lighting, or be used for storage of materials. Land adjacent to flood defences should also be protected in line with Policy DMSI 5. Buffer zones should be designed to be dark (less than 1.0 lux) to protect their function as wildlife corridors; open up river corridors, making space for water through the creation of natural buffer zones adjacent to water courses, and increasing floodplain connectivity
    6. improve safe, public access to waterways and provide opportunities for enjoyment and under standing of the waterways; development will be expected to provide
    7. appropriate riparian lifesaving equipment (e.g. grab chains, access ladders and life buoys) alongside the river side areas to a standard recommended in the 1991 Hayes Report on the Inquiry into River Safety
    8. encourage active travel (walking and cycling) through the provision of cycle and foot paths adjacent to the waterway (but outside of the buffer zone)
    9. have regard to the HM Government’s UK Marine Policy Statement (2011) or updated equivalent and the South East Marine Plan, which applies to the River Thames and the River Roding
    10. identify and deliver natural flood management opportunities to help alleviate fluvial and surface water flooding, as well as measures to prevent litter entering waterways. On sites with culver ted watercourses, proposals for new development will be expected to investigate and secure the implementation of measures to restore sections of the watercourse, with clear and robust justification provided, if considered unachievable
    11. maximise the use of the river for freight, including for the transpor tation of construction materials to, and waste from a development site either directly to and from the site or through the supply chain.

Thames Policy Area

2.

The Thames Policy Area, including the River Roding, is designated on the Policies Map. Within this area, development will be supported where it meets the requirements above and it:

  • improves public access to and along the River Thames
  • protects and enhances views towards and along the River Thames
  • has regard to the recommendations of the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan (or updated equivalent) for Action Zone 454 (which focuses on to taking further action to keep up with climate and land use change so that flood risk does not increase), within which the borough lies
  • protects safeguarded wharves and jetties from any development that would prejudice their future use for river transport in accordance with policy SP5.

For more information please see the Barking & Dagenham Local Plan