It should be noted that a SMP only sets out policy for coastal defence management. It doesn’t set policy for any other ways of managing flood risk (such as land drainage) or for the management of coastal resources (e.g. aggregates). It does, however, take into account plans and policies that manage flood risk from rivers (e.g. Catchment Flood Risk Management Plans) to ensure that they do not contradict each other.
This is the Environment Agency’s plan to manage tidal flood risks in the Severn Estuary. It covers the coast from Gloucester to Lavernock Point near Cardiff and from Gloucester to Hinkley Point in Somerset.
- Severn SMP2 Coastal Planning leaflets
Whilst SMPs are non-statutory, they rely on the statutory planning process to help their implementation. A series of leaflets have been produced to inform wider strategic planning, particularly to assist planners use and interpret the policy options for each local planning authority area. By using the SMP, local planning authorities can help ensure that:
- Adequate provisions for flood and coastal erosion risk are included in development plans and associated development consents
- Current and future communities are not at an increased risk of coastal flooding and erosion
- Future generations are not burdened with unsustainable defence costs
In practice this could mean that the information contained in the SMP informs a Planning Authority’s advice on future developments as well as on advice to the public (and others) on how to avoid building in areas that are likely to be at risk from coastal erosion or flooding.
Whilst SMP2 policies are set out in specific Policy Units and timeframes (epoch), these should be only seen as a guide to aid planning for long-term change. The transition from one policy to the next should be a process that takes account of the physical characteristics of the coast and responds to the gradual changes at the coast over time. In reality, change may take place earlier or later than set out in the SMP2 if it is appropriate to do so and is in accordance with the overall intent of the policies.
| English Local Planning Authorities | Welsh Local Planning Authorities
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| Bristol | 4 SMP policy units
Predicts limited coastal erosion Recommends HTL policy over whole 100 year period |
Cardiff | 5 SMP policy units
Predicts limited coastal erosion in most areas. Recommends HTL for the entire 100 years except Flat Holm where the policy is NAI. |
| Forest of Dean | 14 SMP policy units
Predicts limited coastal erosion Recommends a mixture of NAI and HTL policies, while considering how MR could take place in some areas in the long-term |
Monmouthshire | 6 SMP policy units
Predicts limited coastal erosion. Recommends a mixture of NAI and HTL policies, while considering how MR could take place in some areas. |
| Gloucester City | 3 SMP policy units
Coastal erosion is not an issue. Recommends HTL policy in all areas. |
Newport | 7 SMP policy units
Recommends mainly HTL policies, with potential for MR in the long-term upstream on the R Usk |
| North Somerset | 11 SMP policy units
A large area containing linked flood plains, separated by hard headlands. Predicts limited coastal erosion in N Somerset. Recommends a mixture of NAI and HTL policies, with MR in some areas. |
Vale of Glamorgan | 2 policy units
Predicts some erosion to cliffs at Lavernock and recommends NAI at this location. Recommends HTL along the Penarth town frontage. |
| South Gloucestershire | 6 SMP policy units
Ares linked by Upper Avon and Lower Avon Levels floodplain. Recommends HTL policy in all areas except one, where high ground and hard geology naturally limit flood and erosion risk. |
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| Stroud | 11 SMP policy units
Recommends HTL policies, with MR in some areas in the medium and long-term. NAI is recommended where flood and erosion risk is low. |
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| Tewkesbury | 3 SMP policy units
SMP recommends a mixture of NAI and HTL policies, with MR in some areas. NAI is recommended where flood and erosion risk is low. |
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