The threat of flooding is one of the most serious consequences of climate change, with The Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit estimating there is a 10 per cent chance of a catastrophic flood happening in England within the next two decades.
This is a concern shared by the British Red Cross which, in a recent report, highlights flooding as one of the biggest challenges facing the UK. The report states that the UK is woefully ill-prepared to respond to floods, and details that four in five people are unaware of what to do if a flood occurs.
For housebuilders and local planning authorities, this presents myriad challenges as government housebuilding targets continue to put pressure on local authorities to deliver more homes.
So, how can the UK continue to deliver high-quality housing as flood risks continue to make headlines?
Firstly, we should not underestimate the UK’s flood defence heritage. We have world-leading engineering expertise in flood defences which have ultimately allowed for developments to be built in flood zone areas, minimising the threat of any water breaches. Large parts of both Portsmouth and Southampton on the South Coast, for instance, are considered at risk of coastal flooding, but continued investment from the local authority in flood defences is enabling development in the city to continue, and protect existing infrastructure and properties.
However, in years to come, there may be tough decisions to be made on developing on such land.
High-density housing in urban areas could help relieve pressure on greenfield land, provide greater diversity in housing mix and help revitalise our centres, through increased activity and expenditure. However, many of the locations at risk of climate change related flood risk are our major towns and cities, as they have typically been strategically developed around ports and rivers. So, while residential development in urban centres generally involves previously developed land, and less land-take than greenfield schemes, the flood risks implications still need to be considered.
The repurposing and reimagining of our centres, brought about by structural changes in our retail and town centre sectors, is bringing increased residential populations to our urban cores. Residential is frequently a key component of town centre regeneration schemes, with student accommodation, affordable housing and build-to-rent tenures, alongside market housing schemes, giving rise to higher population densities.
Not only should such urban living schemes not increase the risk of flooding, they also need to ensure that new residents are adequately protected should flood events occur. We need to be confident that our town centres are equipped to deal with sudden and catastrophic flood events, like those seen in Germany last year. Ensuring sufficient escape routes for residents are planned for within a proposal, along with flood alleviation measures embedded into the early design stages is essential. The wide ranging transformational and regeneration schemes coming forward provide the opportunity to ensure that flood alleviation and safety measures are built into the fabric of our centres. Rather than retrofitting flood strategies into existing developments or at the back end of development proposals, carefully considering how the layout and design of development can incorporate sufficient escape routes and be responsive to climatic events at the outset could lead to better outcomes.
Looking beyond the residential elements, protecting visitors in town centres at any point in time is also crucial, ensuring adequate protection measures and plans are in place in the event of a flood. These should be integrated into regeneration proposals coming forward in our centres, ensuring the opportunity is not lost for the built environment to play its part in the protection against severe climate events.
There is no denying investment from our local authorities in flood defenses is some of the best across the globe. World-class engineering has allowed coastal cities like Portsmouth and Southampton to continue to thrive despite the flood threats posed, and this will no doubt be the case for other UK areas where flood risks are increasing. However, we should not just rely on expensive and complex strategic flood defence schemes. Ensuring flood risk is planned for early in the design process with evacuation routes and strategies integral to the operation of the development, will ensure high quality town centres, better able to adapt to the increasing challenges presented by flood events.
Our town centres provide a significant opportunity to provide a range of new housing and create vibrant, sustainable neighborhoods. Flood risk should not be seen as a constraint to town centre development, but an opportunity to utilise the built environment to ensure residential communities and town centre uses are protected from increased risk of climate changed induced flooding.
Cat White is director, Planning at planning and development consultancy Turley.
