From 6 April 2015, the Government expects all decisions on planning applications relating to major development to ensure that sustainable drainage systems for the management of run-off (also known as SUDS) are put in place, unless demonstrated to be inappropriate.
We have amended our local validation requirements to take into account this national policy.
The provision of sustainable drainage systems in major developments is a national planning policy requirement. In order to assess your proposal against national policy we need sufficient details to be provided before we validate your application.
A sustainable drainage system statement is required to accompany any planning application proposing:
National planning policy requires sustainable drainage systems to be provided in all major developments, unless they are shown to be inappropriate. Applications for major development must therefore include evidence to show:
We recommend that the application presents sustainable drainage system details in a standalone statement which considers and addresses the Government's sustainable drainage technical standards one by one and in order. This approach will clearly show that the compliance of the proposal with national drainage standards has been fully considered.
The nature of the standards means a combination of plans, drawings, specifications and discussion will be required in your submission. Brief bullet points are usually a good way to present written information.
We will have regard to a number of factors in forming judgments on the suitability or otherwise of sustainable drainage system details and information, including:
When we receive a major planning application we will consult the Lead Local Flood Authority (Cumbria County Council) with details and evidence provided by the applicant.
We will have regard to the views of the Lead Local Flood Authority in our decision making.
The normal presumption is that sustainable drainage systems must be provided for major developments in line with national standards. Where an applicant feels that the provision of sustainable drainage systems would be inappropriate, the onus is on the application to evidence why sustainable drainage systems should not be provided, having regard to the national drainage standards.
It is Government policy that all major developments should incorporate sustainable drainage systems unless they are demonstrated to be inappropriate, having regard to the national standards. Providing sustainable drainage systems can impact on a development's layout and design (for example if attenuation areas are required), and so should be considered from the earliest stages.
We can only impose planning conditions where there is a reasonable prospect that the requirements of the condition can be met. Therefore, even if we were to condition final details of a sustainable drainage scheme, an application would still need to contain enough information for us to be confident that the requirements of the condition and the national drainage standards could be met.
