Introduction
Surrey County Council (SCC) is designated as Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, which means we are a statutory consultee on surface water drainage for all new major developments, as set out by the Town and Country Planning Order.
If a planning application for a Major Development is submitted, the Local Planning Authority (LPA) is required to consult us in relation to the surface water drainage proposals for that development, so that we can review and provide comments.
Alongside our statutory duties, we also review some non-major planning applications where the LPA require advice. This could be due to the existing surface water flood risk at the site, or particularly sensitive development sites. Any comments, advice and recommendations are considered by the LPA as non-statutory.
To assist developers, we offer a range of pre-application advice services.
Pre-application advice service
Our pre-application advice is recommended to reduce time at the formal application consultation stage.
We provide chargeable pre-application advice on SuDS and surface water drainage management for all types of development.
Our advice can:
- indicate whether a drainage proposal would be unacceptable at application stage;
- reduce the time spent on developing a surface water drainage strategy;
- ensure that a complete surface water drainage strategy can be submitted;
- Inform how national and SCC guidance and policies will be applied to the development;
- identify whether additional specialist input may be required (for example, fluvial and groundwater flood risk).
We can provide pre-application planning advice at any stage of the planning application process, however we encourage early engagement for maximum benefit.
Levels of Pre-application advice
The cost of each level of advice is scaled to the size of the proposed development. To find out how much our advice will cost, decide which level of advice is right for you and your needs, then check which category your site falls under. The cost of the service for each category is detailed in the service description below:
Non-major
fewer than 10 dwellings on a site less than 1 hectare in size.
Major
- 10 or more dwellings; or
- a building with a floor area greater than 1000 square metres; or
- a site over 1 hectare in size.
Large Major
- 200 or more dwellings; or
- a site over 4 hectares in size.
Level 1 – Flood Risk Report
We will provide a detailed Flood Risk Report (FRR) of the known flood risks and historic information we hold and a review of the suitability of the site for SuDS techniques. We include information from the following sources:
- Fluvial Flood Risk - Flood Zones (Environment Agency)
- Flood Warning and Alert areas (Environment Agency)
- Flood Maps for Surface Water (Environment Agency)
- Susceptibility to Groundwater Flooding (British Geological Survey)
- Historic Flood Map (Environment Agency)
- Historic Flooding Incidents Database (Surrey County Council)
- Detailed desktop assessment of geological data and suitability of site for SuDS (British Geological Survey)
- Officer analysis and comment of likely suitable SuDS approaches
Costs
Our fees as of 1 April 2024 are:
- Non-major developments = £150 + £30 VAT = £180
- Major developments = £200 + £40 VAT = £240
- Large-Major developments = £250 + £50 VAT = £300
In order to submit your request for Level 1 pre-application advice, please email suds@surreycc.gov.uk
Level 2 – Pre-application advice service
We provide detailed discussions with a specialist case officer, to inform the surface water drainage design. Full advice and review service from pre-application through to planning decision and including discharge of conditions applications.
All Level 2 Pre-application advice applications include the detailed Flood Risk Report summarising known site information (see description in 3.1 Level 1 – Flood Risk Report)
Costs
Our fees as of 1 April 2024 are:
Non-major developments
- Site visit meeting = £836 + £167.20 VAT = £1,003.20
- Officer meeting = £674 + £134.80 VAT = £808.80
- Written advice = £552 + £110.40 VAT = £662.40
Major developments
- Site visit meeting = £1,398 + £279.60 VAT = £1,677.60
- Officer meeting = £1,236 + £247.20 VAT = £1,483.20
- Written advice = £992 + £198.40 VAT = £1,190.40
Large Major developments
- Site visit meeting = £1,992 + £398.40 VAT = £2,390.40
- Officer meeting = £1,830 + £366 VAT = £2,196.00
- Written advice = £1,586 + £317.20 VAT = £1,903.20
In order to submit your request for Level 2 pre-application advice, please email suds@surreycc.gov.uk including a location plan of the proposed site and confirmation of the level of advice required. We will then confirm your details, the cost of the service, and the payment arrangements normally Bankers' Automated Clearing System (BACS) transfer.
Level 3 – Further meeting or bespoke advice
If you do not require the full suite of advice or have already submitted an application and just need at-cost advice on specific elements, we are happy to provide this on an hour-by-hour basis.
Costs
Our fees as of 1 April 2024 are:
Officer attendance at meetings or further written advice is charged at an hourly rate of £144 + £28.80 VAT = £172.80 per hour.
To submit your request for Level 3 bespoke pre-application advice, please email suds@surreycc.gov.uk