Federation Villages Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan
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Well informed decisions at the planning proposal stage regarding land use zoning will yield a range of benefits well into the future in the Federation Villages (and the broader Federation Council LGA), including but not limited to: • Limit risk to life by prohibiting development (both residential and commercial) in known floodways, and therefore limiting the number of occupants in hazardous areas that may be subject to flash flooding; • Limit risk to proposed development by only making land that is either flood free or subject to low flood hazard available for development and thereby reducing the potential financial burden following severe floods for future residents; • Ensure flood risk to the broader floodplain is not exacerbated (e.g. by prohibiting development in locations that would obstruct flowpaths and redistribute flows);
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Following on from the above, sensible decisions at the land-use planning stage will assist Council (and developers) in the long term. By limiting development to areas of low (or no) flood risk, there will be a reduced need for reliance on development controls to manage flood risk to new development. This will make lodgement and assessment of Development Applications less onerous on both developers and Council’s planning staff, and likely result in improved aesthetic and/or street activation outcomes (for example, suitability of lower floor levels for retail premises). However, the Manual also states that the NSW Government’s Flood Prone Land Policy does not support the use of zoning to unjustifiably restrict development simply because land is flood prone. Zoning of flood prone land should be based on an objective assessment of land suitability and capability, flood risk, environmental and other factors (Reference 5). Recommendation
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PM-07: Flood Planning Controls – Future Zoned Land Council to consider the high-resolution flood information developed as part of this study when considering changes to land use zoning in these future growth areas. And wherever possible, limit future development to areas classified as low or no flood risk
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6.4.7. Section 10.7 Planning Certificates
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When development is proposed on flood prone land, it can be useful to directly share flood information with residents or developers so that the flood risk and constraints at the site are well understood, and so that the applicable flood related development controls (e.g. from Council’s DCP) can be readily identified. This information can then be used to inform building siting and design (such as fill extents and minimum floor levels), and submitted back to Council along with the Development Application (DA), to enable Council planning staff to make informed decisions when approving or rejecting the DA, or stipulating conditions for consent. Sophisticated data and mapping produced in this study will assist in the dissemination of accurate and site-specific information to the community. A GIS based map can provide useful information to a property owner and simplify the identification of issues by a Council staff member. Section 17.2 and 17.3 of Appendix I to the FDM (Reference 5) detail typical examples of information for inclusion in Section 10.7 (2) and (5) Planning Certificates, and include the following: 118048: R211211_FederationVillagesFRMSP.docx: 11 December 2021
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