Faster SuDS approval system proposed

A faster system to allow local authorities to grant faster planning permission to Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) has been proposed by the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra).

In a consultation, Defra has outlined changes to the Water and Flood Management Act 2010 which aim to speed up the process of awarding planning approval to new SuDS schemes.

The new proposal builds on the existing planning system that is currently being used by local authorities and planners.

This new system would usurp the plan put forward in the Water and Flood Management Act which would have seen a separate consenting regime created to approve planning applications for SuDS projects.

Defra stated the new proposal “will mean homes are protected earlier and that local authorities, developers and water companies are all able to play a part.”

The new plans also state that SuDS “must be maintained to a minimum level of effectiveness” in order to keep maintenance costs down and that “funding for maintenance should be fair for householders and premises occupiers”

The local authority must identify “who will be responsible for maintaining the sustainable drainage systems” and “set out a minimum standard to which the sustainable drainage systems must be maintained”.

It is hoped this will address concerns raised that the original plan could lead to delays being caused by local authorities who were uncertain of their responsibilities, including who is accountable for the maintenance and funding for SuDS.

Environment secretary Elizabeth Truss said: “We have sought an approach which meets [the 2008 Pitt review’s] recommendations, enables a rapid roll-out of sustainable drainage solutions at a local level and allows local planning authorities to best address site-specific local surface water run-off management concerns.”

The consultation closes on 24 October 2014 and Defra expects that any changes to planning policy would come into force in spring 2015.