Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the effect of new housing developments on the risk of flooding in Fylde constituency.

The local planning authority consults the Environment Agency on planning applications for developments located within Flood Zone 3, an area having a high probability of flooding. Developers of land in Flood Zone 3 must submit a Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) with their planning application. The Environment Agency reviews the FRAs, assessing the impact of the development on flood risk. FRAs are used to demonstrate that developments will not be at an unacceptable risk of flooding or increase flood risk elsewhere. If the FRA cannot demonstrate this, the Environment Agency will object to the planning application until a satisfactory FRA has been submitted.

The final decision on whether or not to grant planning permission is made by the local planning authority.