WATER MANAGEMENT

4.14 It is important when preparing proposals for future development, that water management and the risk of flooding is considered. The financial costs of floods can be immense and the risk to lives and physical damage to property means that areas of flood risk should be avoided. Predicted climate change is expected to bring wetter, stormier weather risking more flooding in Scotland. The precautionary principle should therefore be adopted in regard to development: action should be taken now to avoid possible environmental damage when the scientific evidence for acting is inconclusive but the potential damage could be great.

4.15 Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City Councils have formed a Flood Appraisal Group as recommended by NPPG 7 "Planning and Flooding". Its broad aim is to promote best practice and data sharing and to enhance understanding of all issues related to flooding. Additionally, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for assessing flood risk, and is required to provide advice to a planning authority, if requested and based on the information it holds. The Agency can therefore advise in some cases on proposals for development on land at risk of flooding. Where there is insufficient information on flood risk, but it is nevertheless considered a possibility, developers will be required to provide a Flood Risk Assessment for their proposals.

4.16 As well as avoiding areas liable to flood, new development should avoid causing flooding problems elsewhere. Surface water run-off is normally drained into water courses. This can contain contaminants and cause localised flooding. However Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) can be used as a means of dealing with surface water run-off in ways which avoid flooding and pollution. Guidance on SUDS can be obtained from SEPA and their use should be encouraged in both brownfield and greenfield development.