Planning: Floods Resilience Taskforce

10. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the floods resilience taskforce on future planning considerations.

This Government are making a record £10.5 billion investment to deliver the largest flood and coastal investment programme in history. The floods resilience taskforce brings together experts and decision makers from across the UK Government, as well as from non-government and industry organisations at local and national level. The work of the taskforce will be considered as part of our ongoing planning reform programme.

In areas like Mid Norfolk, planning is the key to avoiding developments that cause and exacerbate flooding. In Attleborough, a recent planning application for 350 houses on a floodplain was turned down by the council on the basis that it would cause flooding, but fast-tracked by the Planning Inspectorate on the basis of the Government’s house building targets. The Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill contained nothing on flooding, which is why I am introducing a Bill. Will the Minister meet me and cross-party campaigners from affected constituencies—some of my constituents are now wading through sewage after the development I mentioned—to talk about how we can integrate planning with flood prevention?

This Government will maintain the highest levels of flood protection, while taking decisive action to fix our broken planning system and to deliver 1.5 million homes through our plan for change. We will consider whether further changes are necessary to manage flood risk when we consult on planning reform, including national policy relating to decision making, later this year.