Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area Planning Framework

334 Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area Planning FrameworkTA 7 Water strategyThe aim of this strategy is to establish ahierarchy of interventions that will lead tothe conservation and management of waterwithin the wider environment, community,home and business.It is generally accepted that the threepriorities for water conservation andmanagement are as follows:1. The sustainable use of water for domesticand commercial purposes.2. The management, and where possiblereduction, of surface water and flood risk.3. The protection and enhancement ofwatercourses.As well as its consumption, water is animportant resource for recreation, visualamenity and biodiversity. Its propermanagement can add value to development,contribute to place making and as acomponent of green infrastructure amelioratesome of the affects of climate change.The strategy covers the essentialrequirements at various spatial levels forthe above three water management andconservation issues. The document uses theplanning policies in the London Plan andthe emerging principles in the London WaterStrategy (due for publication September2009). The spatial levels include strategicarea-wide level, site-specific level andbuilding level. They include the three areasof water management and conservation inspatial hierarchy, describing key elementswith related policy and practical solutions.Given the strategic importance of floodingin terms of the overall regeneration of theOA it has been dealt with separately and inadvance of the other water management andconservation issues.FloodingStrategic Flood Risk Assessment (SRFA)The VNEB OA is within Flood Zone 3a,however it is defended to a high standardthrough a combination of the Thames barrierand River Walls. There remains a residualrisk of flooding from overtopping or breachof the flood defences. The EnvironmentAgency’s Thames Estuary 2100 projectdemonstrates that later this century flooddefence levels in London are likely to haveto be raised. Planning should take place nowin order to ensure that raising flood defencelevels in the OA does not just mean higherwalls.Setting new development back from the riveredge will enable a much more sustainableand cost effective upgrade of flood defencesand maintain views and visual connectionsacross the river.London Boroughs Lambeth and Wandsworthhave produced Strategic Flood RiskAssessments (SFRA), assessing the floodrisk for the areas covering the VNEB OA. Asummary of baseline information is providedin the next section.