The Planning System and Flood Risk Management - Offaly County ...

60As part of a FRA, information on the location, standard and condition ofexisting flood defences should be obtained from those who operate andmaintain these assets. Detailed analysis within the FRA will depend on thenature and severity of flood risk, vulnerability and pathways in the areabehind the flood defences. For a SFRA, the analysis needs to be sufficientlydetailed to allow the application of the sequential approach within the floodrisk zone. For a site-specific FRA, it needs to be sufficiently detailed to allowthe determination of the actual risk behind the infrastructure.Planning GuidelinesIt is recognised that data sources referred to above may be limited, especiallywith respect to predictive flood extents. It should be noted that decisionscan be made on limited data so long as a precautionary approach is taken.Assessment of flood risk and subsequent management activities principallyrelies on estimation of flow, level, and the performance of assets at anappropriate degree of accuracy that will deliver “fit-for-purpose” informationfor decision-making. This is usually achieved by some form of mathematicalmodelling of river systems that embrace the source-pathway-receptor concept.However, as is known from experience, modelling is subjective, and poordata and use of inappropriate techniques can undermine the confidence ofthe decision maker.It the planning authority considers that there is a potential flood risk issueit should move to Step 2. If the planning authority is satisfied that there isno potential flood risk identified from an assessment of all the sources listedabove and bearing in mind the precautionary approach, a FRA will not berequired and the process can end at Step 1. It woud be prudent in suchcircumstance for the planning authority to keep a record on the public fileof the screening decision and reasons for deciding that FRA is not required.However in the majority of circumstances, the process will move onto Step2 .Step 2 - ScopingThe purpose of scoping is to ensure that the relevant flood risk issues areidentified so that they can be addressed appropriately in the Flood RiskAssessment (FRA).Whether it is a strategic flood risk assessment at development plan level orsite-based assessment, it is important to scope the necessary level of detailand most appropriate assessment techniques based on the quality androbustness of the available datasets. It is anticipated that planning authoritieswill need to commission a flood risk assessment as early as possible withinthe development planning process as part of the SEA and a robust scoping