Strategic Flood Risk Assessment

The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) examines how sources of flooding may impact on development in Leeds, and makes recommendations for appropriate land use and flood mitigation strategies.

The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) uses the latest New National Flood Risk Assessment (NAFRA2) flood extents provided by the Environment Agency and also bespoke modelling for the Meanwood and Wortley Beck Catchments that have been verified by the Environment Agency as suitable for this purpose.

The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment:

  • collates information about all known sources of flooding, including river, surface water (local drainage), sewers and groundwater, that may affect existing and future development within the district
  • maps the extent of areas that have a low, medium or high probability of flooding within the district, defined in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework and also maps the impact of climate change on flood risk
  • defines the extent of the functional floodplain, based on the 3.3% annual exceedance probability in NAFRA2 and the Meanwood and Wortley Beck Catchment Models
  • informs the development of council policy on managing flood risk and the allocation of land for future development that will not unduly place people or property at risk of flooding
  • recommends possible flood mitigation solutions that may be integrated into the design (by the developer) to minimise the risk to property and life should a flood occur (in accordance with the NPPF Exception Test)

The council has provided an interactive map to make it easy to see the risk of flooding in Leeds.