Internal Drainage Boards
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Middle Level Commissioners and Associated Internal Drainage Boards
Planning/Overview
The Commissioners and Associated Boards are a contributing authority to Planning processes across Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, where planning applications from both industry and the general public fall inside the catchment areas of those Boards.
We are consulted on planning applications from the relevant local authorities across Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for us to make comments. Often however, consent is also required from the Commissioners/Boards themselves, where watercourses, watercourse structures and the protection of maintenance access widths are/might be affected.
Consent Comments: As authorities consulted by planning authorities the Commissioners and Boards do not have powers to pass or reject any planning application that is sent to us for comments. Our role is to ensure that the application, if passed, will not hinder nor affect access to our maintained watercourses, as well as ensuring that the anticipated works will not have any detrimental effect on the flow capacity of the channel.
More recently we have been heavily involved in also ensuring that any applications do not affect the officially designated conservation sites in and around our boundaries or inappropriately impact on the conservation interests of our maintained watercourses.
Planning/Byelaws
The Middle Level Commissioners and the Internal Drainage Boards administered from the Middle Level Offices have powers granted to them by Section 66 of the Land Drainage Act 1991 to make and enforce Byelaws, which in general, provide regulations and a framework to protect all the watercourses which are under the direct juridsiction of those Boards, and the access alongside those watercourses required for their maintenance. The Byelaws also apply to all structures in and in the banks of such watercourses and within the access strips protected under such byelaws. Such access strips measure 20 metres on both sides of such watercourses in the case of the Middle Level Commissioners or 9 metres in the case of all other Boards. In the case of embankments however, the measurement is taken from the landward toe of the embankment.
Whilst the proper enforcement of these Byelaws is crucially important in keeping the hydrological network functioning and reducing flood risk, the Boards recognise that both industry and the general public will at times, need to be granted consent for the betterment of the area or their property and that such applications can be permitted without prejudicing flood risk.
Byelaw Consent: You are able to apply for Byelaw consent directly to this Office. As a guide, you will need to apply for Byelaw consent if you wish to:
- Alter a Board's watercourse by Culverting, Filling In or changing its Existing Course.(NB Consent is required from the Board under section 23 Land Drainage Act 1991 for culverting or filling in a watercourse even where it is not maintained by the Board).
- Discharge Surface Water into a Board's watercourse (directly or indirectly).
- Discharge Treated Water (Effluent) into a Board's watercourse (directly or indirectly).
- Build, Excavate or Plant within the access strips adjacent to a Board's watercourse.
- Erect any structure within a Board's watercourse.
PLEASE NOTE THAT NEITHER THE LAND DRAINAGE ACT 1991 NOR THE COMMISSIONERS' BYELAWS PROVIDE FOR THE GRANT OF RETROSPECTIVE CONSENTS.
Statement on National Planning Policy Framework (NPFF)
The Government has published a draft NPPF which is intended to condense the contents of all of the current PPS documents into a 52 page general framework document which, it is proposed, will simplify the planning process. The areas of the Middle Level Commissioners and our associated/administered IDBs are a defended flood plain in which detailed day to day management of water levels is required to reduce flood risk. This must clearly influence the consideration given to development proposals and their effects. Given therefore the importance of water level/flood risk management within The Fens, the Commissioners and associated/administered Boards consider the draft NPPF to be a significantly retrograde step that will increase the risk of flooding in their area by appearing to dilute a proper consideration of the flood risk, both to and caused by development in this area.
In consequence, therefore, when dealing with issues related to our byelaws and consent procedures the Commissioners and associated/administered Boards will promote and require continued adoption of and compliance with the relevant principles contained within PPS25 and the associated Practice Guide together with the provision of a FRA that meets the minimum requirements of Annex E. We will also be urging the local planning authorities within our areas to adopt a similar approach to ensure that proper consideration is given to flood risk issues arising from development.
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