Policy information sourced from the Tandridge Local Plan Part 2: Detailed Policies

DP21: Sustainable Water Management

A. Water will be retained in the natural environment as far as possible. Proposals which seek to restore natural flows in the river systems or re-establish areas of functional floodplain will be supported, particularly where they would provide opportunities for recreation, habitat restoration/enhancement or additional Green Infrastructure provision.

Water Quality, Ecology and Hydromorphology

B. Proposals should avoid damage to Groundwater Source Protection Zones, having regard to the Environment Agency’s ‘Groundwater Protection: Policy and Practice’ guidance or successor documents.

C. Development adjacent to, or likely to affect underground or surface water bodies covered by the Water Framework Directive and Thames River Basin Management Plan should, where possible, make improvements to the quality, ecology and hydromorphology of these water bodies. Additionally, such proposals should contribute towards the maintenance or achievement of ‘Good Ecological Status’ for the affected water bodies. This may take the form of on-site measures or a financial contribution to off-site measures.

Flood Risk

D. Proposals should seek to secure opportunities to reduce both the cause and impact of flooding; for example through the use of Green Infrastructure for flood storage and, where necessary, the incorporation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) suitable to the scale and type of the development, ensuring the discharge of surface run off is restricted to that of the pre-development site. Consideration should be given as to the future maintenance of any proposed SuDS schemes.

E. Development within flood risk zones 2 and 3 or on sites of 1 hectare or greater in zone 1, and sites at medium or high risk from other sources of flooding as identified by the Council’s Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, will only be permitted where:

  1. The sequential and, where appropriate, exception tests as detailed in ‘Technical Guidance to the National Planning Policy Framework’(32) have been applied and passed and the proposal is a development form compatible with the level of risk;
  2. For all sources of flood risk, it can be demonstrated through a site specific Flood Risk Assessment (FRA)* that the proposal would, where practicable, reduce flood risk both to and from the development or at least be risk neutral; and
  3. Appropriate flood resilient and resistant design, and mitigation and adaptation measures are included in order to reduce any level of risk identified through a site specific FRA to acceptable levels.

* The FRA should demonstrate how flood risk is to be mitigated, development adapted and, where practicable, risk reduced including the consideration of risks from other sources where appropriate. The content and scope of the FRA should be commensurate with the scale of development and be agreed by the District Council in consultation with the Environment Agency.

For more information please see the Tandridge Local Plan Part 2: Detailed Policies