Give us your views on our draft Local Flood Risk Management Strategy objectives

Feedback updated 5 Aug 2024

We asked

In April 2024, we asked residents, local partners and other stakeholders to have their say in shaping how the Council manages flood risk, to inform the development of a new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy for West Northamptonshire. The consultation invited people to agree, disagree or make comments on the draft strategic objectives for the Strategy. People were also asked to provide views on how the Council should improve flood risk management, as well as identify local areas that are directly affected by flooding.

You said

We received 169 responses to the online consultation.

86% of resident responders said flooding was an issue in their town or village, or on their street.
The most common types of flooding experienced were river and surface water flooding.
The top three flood risk management activities respondents felt the Council should focus on were:
- Working with developers to ensure new development does not increase local flood risk (75% of votes).
- Understanding the current and future local flood risks by carrying out technical assessments and thoroughly investigating flooding incidents (40% of votes).
- Increasing the level of highway gully maintenance to reduce road flooding (37% of votes).
83% of respondents believed that they do not receive enough information about who is responsible for managing flood risks within West Northamptonshire.
Overall, the majority of responders agreed with the draft Local Flood Risk Management Strategy objectives.
The objective which most responders (88%) agreed with was Objective I ‘Work with others to ensure new development will not increase flood risk and where possible reduces local flood risk’.
Objective F ‘Contribute to local sustainability, community wellbeing and carbon reduction initiatives through flood risk management activities’ had the lowest percentage of responses which ‘agreed’ with the objective (54%).
Objective G ‘Support and empower communities to adapt to their flood risk and become flood resilient’ had the highest percentage of ‘disagree’ responses (11%), although the majority (61%) of responders still agreed.

We did

The feedback from this first round of engagement will be used to review the draft objectives and to shape the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, including understanding where best to prioritise resources. During the next phase of the Strategy development, we will identify specific actions for the council to deliver to meet the Strategy’s objectives.
A second public consultation will take place to seek views on the full Local Flood Risk Management Strategy once drafted.
The current Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and updates on the development of the new Strategy can be found on our Local Flood Risk Management webpage.

Overview

We would like people to have their say in shaping the West Northamptonshire Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.

Background

West Northamptonshire Council, as Lead Local Flood Authority has a legal duty to develop a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.

What does this mean? What does this mean?

Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, we are required to develop, apply and monitor a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy which sets out how we intend to manage floods and the effect of flooding on our area.

The Strategy needs to consider local issues, both environmentally and other policies such as planning policies.

The Strategy will focus on local flood risk from surface water, groundwater, and watercourses including rivers, streams and brooks, culverts and ditches and sets out the way we manage flood risks for the next 6 years.

Our current Northamptonshire Strategy requires updating as a result of environmental and governmental changes, in addition to West Northamptonshire Council now operating as a unitary authority. More information on this Strategy is available on our Local Flood Risk Management Strategy webpage.

You can read more about why we need a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy on the Local Government Association website.

Looking ahead, flood risk is changing. Climate change is causing increases in rainfall whilst population growth and new development can put pressure on the way we manage surface water. This means, planning ahead to manage flood risk is more important than ever.

The Local Flood Risk Management Strategy provides how the Council will work with others as well as setting out and outlining the main themes (also known as strategic objectives) the Council will focus on to manage flood risks across West Northamptonshire. These objectives will be achieved through detailed actions which will be set out in a supporting Action Plan which will be developed at a later stage.

Why we need your views

In order for us to shape the strategy we would like to understand your main issues and concerns in relation to flooding across West Northamptonshire to ensure we are focusing on the right themes to manage flood risk in the future.

Therefore, we would like to understand if people agree or disagree with the proposed developed themes.

There is also opportunity to provide open views on what you feel the Council should do to improve flood risk management, as well as suggest local areas that are directly affected by flooding.

Please note, this is an initial consultation on a strategic planning document. If you would like to report recent flooding please visit our Report a Flood page.

How to have your say

We would like to hear from local residents, businesses, and our partners and other stakeholders.

You can have your say on the draft Strategy objectives by completing an online survey using the link below.

If you need assistance to complete the online questionnaire or would like a copy of it in another format, you can email us at WNCFloodandWater.LFRMS@westnorthants.gov.uk

This survey ends midnight 16 June 2024.

What happens next?

Your feedback is important to us and will help us to identify if changes are needed on the draft Objectives.

Once we have taken comments into consideration and reviewed the draft objectives we will develop an Action Plan, outlining specific actions to help deliver the Strategy objectives and carry out a flood risk analysis to identify areas most at risk from flooding.

We will then look to finalise the draft Strategy, Action Plan and supporting documentation, and carry out a statutory public consultation before publishing.

We aim to publish the final Strategy in 2025.

What happens next