Building on flood plains
Build floating houses on flood plains,
says Environment Agency chairman Lord Smith (2014)
local
councils allowed at least 87 planning developments involving 560 homes to
proceed in England and Wales in areas at such high risk of flooding that the EA
formally opposed them. The biggest development of this kind is the 149-home
Goresbrook Village Estate in Dagenham, Essex, expected to be ready for
occupation in March 2015.
The
report found that 13 per cent of all new developments were on flood plains.
While many flood zone developments are well protected, one in five was in an
area "of significant risk under today's climate". It noted that much
of Britain is now so densely populated that developments on flood plains are
growing much faster than those outside.
Between 2001 and
2011, it is thought around 200,000 homes have been built on floodplains. More
and more schemes include features, which make them flood resilient, such as
lifting living spaces off the ground floor.
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