Flood Risk and Spatial Planning Regulations - Lessons From the UK

Every year we hear news reports in New Zealand of significant flooding event in England causing widespread damage and putting people’s lives at risk. A society built around the use of rivers and coastal resources, for a long time England developed with limited understanding or consideration of the risk of flooding. High profile, widespread flooding across England in the early 90’s, again in 2000, and then again in 2007 each time led to changes in planning policies and guidance related to flooding. In each instance lessons were learnt regarding the role of spatial planning in flood risk management.

This paper outlines some of the lessons learnt regarding managing flooding in England, such as understanding the full costs of land use planning decisions, planning tools used in England, and the importance of defining terms such as ‘safe’ with respective to flooding. Although there are some marked differences in both catchments and development pressures between New Zealand and England, this paper also considers how this knowledge and some of the lessons could be applied in the local context.