Use this page to find out about our planning and development policies relating to flooding and surface water.
We are both the Lead Local Flood Authority and the Local Planning Authority. Together, we review planning applications to assess if they meet the national and local requirements for flood risk and surface water drainage.
This ensures that developments are appropriate and directed away from high-risk flood areas.
Guidance for developers
If you are a developer looking to make a new planning application, you should consider flood risk and drainage at an early stage.
The guidance and legislation on this page will help you to find the information you need.
You can also contact our planning pre-application advice team, who can help you get started with your planning application
Local and national planning policies
There are a number of local and national planning policies that you will need to be aware of and follow:
Local policy and reports
- Local Flood Risk Management Strategy
- Surface Water Management Plan
- Our core planning policy and placemaking plan - Policies CP5 and SU1
- West of England sustainable drainage guide
- Strategic flood risk assessment
National policy
- National Planning Policy Framework (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
- Non-statutory technical standards for sustainable drainage systems
- Planning policy guidance (Department for Communities and Local Government)
Planning requirements
You may need to meet the following requirements as part of your planning application:
- Flood Risk Sequential Test and Exception Test (to be generated by the developer when making a planning application)
- Flood risk assessment (if a proposed development is in a flood zone)
If you want to check if the local requirements apply to your particular development, check our local requirements for planning applications page.