Shropshire Council

Flood risk and planning policy

The council’s Core Strategy policy CS18: Sustainable Water Management details our approach to flood risk within a planning context. This policy is underpinned by the Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) Plan policy MD2: Sustainable Design.

A number of supporting documents have also been produced.

Strategic Flood Risk Assessments

An updated county wide Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) has now been completed. The SFRA will be consulted during the planning process for Shropshire Council by providing a detailed and robust assessment as to the nature and extent of all types of flooding and possible implications for land use planning.

The SFRA report and Appendix B are available to download via the links beneath 'related documents'. Appendix A is comprised of Level 1 SFRA Geo-PDF Mapping. An index of these interactive maps can be found via the Appendix A link beneath 'related documents' and the flood team can be contacted if you require copies of the maps.

A more detailed, Level 2, SFRA has also been completed for Shrewsbury town centre. This gives further information regarding issues that are specific to the town. Please follow the link to Shrewsbury Level 2 Flood Risk Assessment for further information.

Water Cycle Study

The Shropshire Water Cycle Study was commissioned to assess the impact of future development on the water environment and water infrastructure. It identifies infrastructure and environmental capacity constraints in key centres throughout Shropshire, in relation to suggested levels of housing and employment development.

The study includes identification of the sources of flooding and provides recommendations for the most suitable locations for development with regard to the level of risk (ie north, south, east, or west of each settlement). It also identifies any actions that need to be taken to support development, particularly in relation to infrastructure upgrades.

In addition to identifying areas at risk of surface water flooding, the study provides information on the different types of sustainable drainage systems that are most applicable to different parts of Shropshire.

The full Shropshire Water Cycle Study Report and summary document are available via the links on this page.