Decision details

To consider a report of the Head of Planning and Sustainability seeking approval of the Southampton Surface Water Management Plan (SWMP) which outlines recommendations to manage the areas identified as being at potential high risk of surface water flooding in the City.  The SWMP maps the surface water flood risk areas within Southampton, determining the potential extent and consequences in order to establish the priority areas.  Following a high level appraisal of the options, the recommendations outline the preferred option to manage the risk for each of the identified priority areas.

(i)  To approve the Southampton Surface Water Management Plan

(ii)  To endorse the action plan that will need to be implemented to manage surface water flood risk within the City.

1.  To enable sustainable and strategic management of surface water flood risk within the identified high risk areas throughout the City.

2.  Endorsement of the action plan will provide a mechanism for management through a series of different activities.

3.  Approval of the SWMP, and subsequent implementation of the action plan, will facilitate future applications for national funding towards schemes to manage surface water flood risk. 

4.  The SWMP will assist with the delivery of the Council’s statutory duties and responsibilities under the Flood and Water Management Act, namely the development of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy which must outline the assessment of local flood risk (which includes surface water), measures to manage the risk and anticipated implementation of the identified measures.

The alternative would be to not approve, and thus implement, the SWMP.  This option was rejected on the basis that it would not encourage proactive management of surface water flood risk, it would result in wasted expenditure on completing the SWMP and would not assist with the delivery of the Council’s statutory duty to complete a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.