Knowsley Local Flood Risk Management Strategy
Strategic Environmental Assessment
Environmental Report (DRAFT)
June 2017
Knowsley Local Flood Risk Management Strategy
Draft SEA Report (June 2017)
Non-Technical Summary
Introduction
1. The Flood and Water Management Act (2010) required that County Councils and Unitary Councils were designated as the Local Lead Flood Authority (LLFA) for their administrative areas. Knowsley Council as the LLFA in its area is responsible for managing local flood risk from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses in Knowsley.
2. The purpose of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS) is to provide an overview and assessment of local flood risk in Knowsley, setting out objectives and measures for how Knowsley MBC will manage and reduce local flood risk. Work was undertaken by the Council on a previous version of the LFRMS in 2014 and included an accompanying Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) prepared by Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service (MEAS). Subsequent work has been undertaken by Knowsley Council to refresh the draft LFRMS with an intention that the strategy will be adopted in spring 2018.
3. Knowsley Council has commissioned Urban Vision to review and where appropriate, update the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the LFRMS undertaken by MEAS in 2014.
Methodology and Approach
Scoping and Assessment Framework
4. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a statutory assessment process required under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes (England) Regulations 2004 (the SEA Regulations, Statutory Instrument 2004, No 1633) which provide the legislative mechanism for transposing European Directive 2001/42/EC ‘the (SEA Directive). The SEA Directive and Regulations require the formal assessment of plans and programmes which are likely to have significant effects on the environment. Annex II (2) of the SEA Directive sets out the criteria for determining what constitutes a significant effect.
5. The work previously undertaken by MEAS included scoping the SEA; assessing potential options considered by the emerging LFRMS; and developing a suitable assessment framework. A draft Environmental Report (October 2014) was produced to accompany a previous draft version of the LFRMS.
Review of Plans, Policies and Programmes; and Baseline Data
6. A review of Plans, Policies and Programmes; and baseline data were included in the MEAS draft Environmental Report. Urban Vision has reviewed and updated the draft Environmental Report. This required some minor updating and revisions to the review of Plans, Policies and Programmes; and baseline data.
7. The Plans, Policies and Programmes review includes new material on the Planning Practice Guidance (published in March 2014); a number of Supplementary Planning Documents recently produced by the Council; and the Liverpool City Region Ecological Network. Updates are noted for the North West River Basin Management Plan (updated version published December 2014); and the Council’s Local Plan Core Strategy (adopted January 2016) and the replacement Unitary Development Plan (changes to saved policies as a result of the adoption of the Local Plan Core Strategy).
8. Baseline data has been amended to reflect additional or revised information. The data illustrates that:
· Knowsley has no European designated nature conservation sites or Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). There are 65 Local Wildlife Sites, six Local Geological Sites and one Local Nature Reserve;
· Knowsley lies within the catchment of the Alt and the River Mersey. The main source of flooding is associated with fluvial flooding from the Alt, Knowsley Brook, Croxteth Brook Kirkby Brook, Court Hey Brook and Logwood Mill Brook. There are also recorded instances of surface water flooding and flooding from sewers;
· The population of the borough increased slightly to just over 147,000 in 2015 – this is the fourth year in a row that the Office for National Statistics has registered an increase in its mid-year estimates since the recent low point of a little under 146,000 was reached in 2011.
· Knowsley has generally good air quality and no designated Air Quality Management Areas;
· Knowsley is a mixed urban and open landscape with high quality open spaces and best and most versatile farmland within the half of the Borough designated as green belt;
· There is a legacy of contamination arising from historical industrial development;
· Knowsley has material assets including a range of health, education and community facilities and significant infrastructure including green infrastructure, transport, waste, and telecommunication; and
· Knowsley has significant heritage assets, designated and not designated, including a number of listed buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Parks and Gardens.
9. From the review of Plans, Policies and Programmes; and baseline data, the following environmental and sustainability issues were identified within Knowsley:
· The valued natural environment which hosts a variety of designated nature conservation sites needs to be protected and enhanced where possible;
· The need to comply with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and protecting water resources
· High level of surface water flood risk in localised and urban areas
· The risk of flooding on the health and wellbeing of the population
· Increase in flood risk resulting from Climate Change
· Residential, Commercial and other development (including infrastructure) located in areas of high flood risk
· Large number of heritage assets such as listed buildings which require management (including in terms of their setting).
Assessment Findings
10. The team at Urban Vision has concluded that the findings from the previous draft Environmental Report produced by MEAS remain valid. The key summary findings set out in the MEAS report are reproduced below:
“The assessment demonstrates that the LFRMS objectives will generally have positive effects on the environment, although a significant number were found to be indirect positive effects. This was due to the likely outcome of implementing the LFRMS which will result in a reduction in flood risk and reduced severity of flooding within Knowsley, together with a progressive improvement in the resilience of the built environment to flooding and its effects. In addition, the draft LFRMS is a high level strategic document which emphasises more on issues pertaining to improving knowledge and understanding of flood risk, identifying responsibilities and drawing together existing information to reduce and manage the risks of flooding within Knowsley rather than prescribing specific physical works or actions. However, when taken as a whole, the combined effect of all the LFRMS objectives and measures is expected to have an overall positive effect on the environment.”
11. MEAS identified a number of recommendations for mitigation to be incorporated into the LFRMS. These are still relevant and should be considered in taking forward the latest draft of the LFRMS.
12. The monitoring framework developed by MEAS in their draft Environmental Report envisaged that the suggested indicators could be incorporated into the Annual Monitoring process undertaken for the Local Plan. The latest monitoring report produced for the Local Plan focuses on the status of planning and development within Knowsley with a smaller set of indicators used compared to previous reports. The suggested indicators will therefore need some further consideration to ensure they are fit for purpose prior to the finalisation of the LFRMS and the final version of the SEA report.
Conclusion and Next Steps
13. This draft Environmental Report concurs with the MEAS assessment and conclusion that “…none of the measures in the draft LFRMS are likely to have significant negative effects on any of the SEA objectives. This is because of the nature of the LFRMS, which has an underlying aim of environmental protection through flood risk management, meaning that the effects of the strategy are largely positive.”
14. Further consideration with respect to the monitoring framework is recommended before the final LFRMS is published to ensure the suggested indicators continue to be fit for purpose.
15. The draft LFRMS and this draft Environmental Report will be subject to consultation in the near future. Once the consultation is concluded, any proposed changes to the LFRMS will be considered in a further iteration of the SEA. The final version of the Environmental Report will be published alongside the adopted version of the LFRMS.
1 INTRODUCTION
Background to the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy
1.1 The Flood and Water Management Act (2010) established national legislation that redefined and clarified various statutory bodies and local authorities’ responsibilities for managing flood and coastal erosion risk management. It required that County Councils and Unitary Councils were designated as the Local Lead Flood Authority (LLFA) for their administrative areas. Knowsley Council as the LLFA in its area is responsible for managing local flood risk from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses in Knowsley.
1.2 The purpose of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS) is to provide an overview and assessment of local flood risk in Knowsley, setting out objectives and measures for how Knowsley MBC will manage and reduce local flood risk. Work was undertaken by the Council on a previous version of the LFRMS in 2014 and included an accompanying Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) prepared by Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service (MEAS). Subsequent work has been undertaken by Knowsley Council to refresh the draft LFRMS with an intention that the strategy will be adopted in spring 2018.
Purpose of this Document
1.3 Knowsley Council has commissioned Urban Vision to review and where appropriate, update the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the LFRMS undertaken by MEAS in 2014. The methodological approach adopted by Urban Vision is set out in Section 2.
1.4 Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a statutory assessment process required under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes (England) Regulations 2004 (the SEA Regulations, Statutory Instrument 2004, No 1633) which provide the legislative mechanism for transposing European Directive 2001/42/EC ‘the (SEA Directive). The SEA Directive and Regulations require the formal assessment of plans and programmes which are likely to have significant effects on the environment. Annex II (2) of the SEA Directive sets out the criteria for determining what constitutes a significant effect.
1.5 Table 1 sets out the requirements for SEA reporting and how the information that is required has been set out in this draft Environmental Report and accompanying documents.
Table 1: The Strategic Environmental Assessment Regulations requirements checklist
Information to be included in an Environmental Report under the SEA Regulations / Relevant sections in the Draft Environmental Report and future stagesAn outline of the contents, main objectives of the plan and its relationship with other relevant plans and programmes. / Section 1 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017)
The relevant aspects of the current state of the environment and the likely evolution thereof without implementation of the plan. / Section 4 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017)
The environmental characteristics of areas likely to be significantly affected. / Section 4 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017) and Appendix C (MEAS draft SEA, October 2014)
Any existing environmental problems which are relevant to the plan, including in particular, those relating to any areas of a particular environmental importance, such as areas designated pursuant to Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC. / Section 4 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017) and Appendix C (MEAS draft SEA, October 2014)
The environmental protection objectives, established at international, Community or national level, which are relevant to the plan and the way those objectives and any environmental considerations have been taken into account during its preparation. / Section 3 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017) and Appendix B (MEAS draft SEA, October 2014)
The likely significant effects on the environment, including on issues such as biodiversity, population, human health, fauna, flora, soils, water, air, climatic factors, material assets, cultural heritage, landscape, and the interrelationship between the above factors. / Section 5 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017) and Appendix E (MEAS draft SEA, October 2014)
The measures envisaged to prevent, reduce and as fully as possible offset any significant adverse effects on the environment of implementing the plan. / Section 5 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017); and Section 6 and Appendix E (MEAS draft SEA, October 2014)
An outline of the reasons for selecting the alternatives dealt with and a description of how the assessment was undertaken including any difficulties. / Section 2 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017) and Section 2 (MEAS draft SEA, October 2014)
A description of measures envisaged concerning monitoring. / Section 5 (Urban Vision draft SEA, June 2017) and Section 7 (MEAS draft SEA, October 2014)
A non-technical summary of the information provided above. / Included in this document
Consultation
· authorities with environmental responsibility, when deciding on the scope and level of detail of the information which must be included in the Environmental Report
· authorities with environmental responsibility and the public, shall be given an early and effective opportunity within appropriate time frames to express their opinion on the draft plan or programme and the accompanying Environmental Report before the adoption of the plan or programme
· other EU Member States, where the implementation of the plan or programme is likely to have significant effects on the environment of that country / The four main agencies (Environment Agency, Historic England and Natural England/Natural Resources Wales) will be provided with the opportunity to comment on the draft Environmental Report and any final version of the Environmental Report
The Local Flood Risk Management Strategy will not have any significant effects that impinge upon a neighbouring EU Member State
Provision of information on the decision:
When the plan or programme is adopted, the public and any countries consulted under Art.7 must be informed and the following made available to those so informed:
· the plan or programme as adopted
· a statement summarising how environmental considerations have been integrated into the plan or programme and how the Environmental Report of Article 5, the opinions expressed pursuant to Article 6 and the results of consultations entered into pursuant to Art. 7 have been taken into account in accordance with Art. 8, and the reasons for choosing the plan or programme as adopted, in the light of the other reasonable alternatives dealt with; and
· the measures decided concerning monitoring
/ This will be provided with the final Environmental Report and an adoption statement when the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy is adopted
Monitoring of the significant environmental effects of the plan’s or programme’s implementation / This will be provided with the final Environmental Report and an adoption statement when the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy is adopted
1.6 The draft Environmental Report is structured in the following way: