Sandy, Bedfordshire
| Client | Kier Property |
| Key Personnel | Tony Clothier, Fiona Parry |
| Project type | Hydraulic Modelling to revise EA Flood Zones and Flood Risk Assessment |
| Skillset | Hydraulic modelling, Flood Risk Assessment, Environment Agency technical negotiations, Internal Drainage Board technical negotiations, Site drainage strategy using SUDS |
| Status | Planning permission granted |
Water Environment Limited was commissioned to challenge the Environment Agency Flood Zone Map for a site which was rendered undevelopable due to its status in the Functional Floodplain (Flood Zone 3b) as a result of inaccurate river modelling undertaken on behalf of the Environment Agency. The client was Kier Property.
After an extensive hydraulic modelling exercise and numerous meetings with the Environment Agency and local Drainage Authority, the site was reclassified as Partially within Flood Zone 2 and therefore appropriate for commercial development. This was followed up with a Flood Risk Assessment, Groundwater Risk Assessment and Sustainable Drainage strategy, all of which were accepted by the Environment Agency. The work was also useful to the District Council who had been plagued by an inaccurate flood plain definition which, before our work was accepted by the Environment Agency, rendered all of the strategic employment land in their local plan unfit for development of any sort.
