MPs demand flood zone development restriction

MPs are calling for restrictions on property development in flood zones and at eroding coasts, in a report recommending more local decision-making.

The House of Commons' Agriculture Committee warned that the consequence of flood defence projects is a "legacy of flooding and erosion problems".

The MPs' latest report says that the works mean flood and coastal defence authorities have been left with "insuperable difficulties".

Demolition of some flood and coastal defences has been called for as a priority by the Agriculture Committee. The report argues that national flood management would benefit by leaving many rivers and shorelines to their natural pattern and fate. MPs want a new system of compensation for people who lose property and land as part of the new strategic "natural" flood defence network.

More local decision-making is recommended by the committee, which complains that the present structures are "confused, outdated and cannot deliver" the new ideas in the report.

It says three barriers prevent authorities from achieving the Government's plan for integrated flood and coastal defence: poor implementation locally; limited public awareness; and inappropriate developments.

"A clear presumption should be made against future development in flood plain land" where flood or erosion risk outweighs benefits, as determined by the Environment Agency. The committee wants the agency to fight proposed property developments and if any are approved to ensure that developers set aside enough money for extensive flood defences upstream and downstream of their sites.

The MPs' proposals to improve the management of flood and coastal defences places greater demands on the Environment Agency. Their report suggests that the agency should provide flood warnings to wider areas, speed up the production and delivery of flood hazard maps, and help standardise co-operation systems between flood and coastal defence organisations.

Further changes recommended by the committee include establishing different systems to manage inland and coastal defences.

The report calls for Regional Flood Defence Committees (RFDC) and coastal groups to execute projects that are supervised by the Environment Agency.

The MPs recommend that responsibility for integrated flood management in river catchments is shifted from local authorities to RFDCs. But at the coast they want both the local authorities and RFDCs to transfer responsibilities to local groups.