The Flood Risk Regulations 2009 and the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (the Act) have established unitary and upper tier local authorities as the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) for their area. This has placed several responsibilities on the LLFA in relation to flood risk management and in particular Section 19 of the Act which states:
Flood and Water Management Act 2010: Section 19 – Local Authorities:investigations:
- on becoming aware of a flood in its area, a lead local flood authority must, to the extent that it considers it necessary or appropriate, investigate:
- which risk management authorities have relevant flood risk management functions, and
- whether each of those risk management authorities has exercised, or is proposing to exercise, those functions in response to the flood
- where an authority carries out an investigation under subsection (1) it must:
- publish the results of its investigation, and
- notify any relevant risk management authorities
When considering if it is necessary or appropriate to investigate a flood event Dorset Council will review the severity of the incident, the number of properties affected and the frequency of such an occurrence. Our Local Flood Risk Management Strategy clearly sets out the criteria to be used when considering a flood investigation report.
This report has been produced to comply with legislation and to determine the main causes of the flooding. Each affected area will have several recommended actions to be taken forward by the relevant Risk Management Authorities (RMA’s) or in some cases, by the landowner or local community.