Sunderland City Council

Sunderland City Council
Civic Centre
Burdon Road
Sunderland
SR2 7DN

Tel. (0191) 520 5555

Calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes

Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA)

The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) has been prepared in accordance with current best practice, with National Policy including PPS25 Development and Flood Risk (2006). The SFRA is the result of a joint commission by the five Tyne & Wear districts and has been prepared by consultants approved by the Environment Agency, who are working toward a national comprehensive coverage of SFRAs.

The SFRA will assist in making the spatial planning decisions required to inform the Local Development Framework (LDF) and in determining planning applications. The SFRA will be used as a planning tool to enable the City Council to select sustainable development allocations away from areas of potential flood risk. The assessment has focused on the existing development sites within the city but also sets out procedures to be followed when assessing additional sites for development in the future.

The report details that flooding is not a significant concern in Sunderland as flood zones are constrained largely to the narrow margins along the River Wear and other smaller watercourses e.g. the River Don. The only areas of any extent recognised as potential flood risk are located in low lying areas including Sunderland Docks, South Hylton, Penshaw and Fatfield, Sedgeletch and Rainton Bridge.

The courses of Hendon Burn, Lumley Park Burn, Red Burn, the River Don and the Cut Throat Dene at Seaburn are identified as having the potential for flooding. Incursions along the coast are largely limited by the cliffs except for the front at Seaburn and parts of the North Dock area.

The SFRA also identifies areas of the city which, although there are no current proposals to develop in the vicinity, could be affected by flooding e.g. Mount Pleasant, Fatfield where the Environment Agency have already placed a severe flood warning on the low lying areas of South View.

Development Proposals in areas of close proximity to a flood risk zone will be required, in accordance with PPS25, to conduct a site specific Flood Risk Assessment. It is recognised that in some locations urban regeneration and redevelopment will be essential to maintain the long term viability of communities and the balance of planning considerations may support redevelopment in areas identified at risk from flood.

The documents are available in the following libraries: Central Library (Sunderland); Houghton Library and Washington Library.

In the following Customer Service Centres: Bunnyhill, Sandhill, Hetton and Concord; and 3rd Floor Reception of the Civic Centre.

SFRA Final Report ( pdf 1.96mb)