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MINISTERIAL FOREWORD
The Scottish Government has one, clear purpose: to focus the Government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth. It is extremely important, therefore, to manage the risks associated with flooding, which can devastate lives, communities, property and the environment.
However, we have to recognise that floods are a natural process, which have been exacerbated and made more problematic by human activity. Historically, we have built on the flood plain, straightened rivers and forced them into underground culverts, and drained land for agricultural production. Climate scenarios for Scotland tell us that over the course of this century our climate will become wetter and stormier. As evidenced by events such as the 2002 Glasgow flood and the 2005 Western Isles storm, the implications of severe weather events are wide ranging across society, the environment and the economy. We know we can expect an increase in flood risk - for all types of flooding - which could be damaging to both Scotland's economy and society as a whole.
Scotland needs to adapt to this change if it is to minimise the impacts of costly disruptions and safeguard the continued smooth functioning of services and infrastructure. How we manage these risks will be one of our main challenges for the future.
The flooding summit we held in Perth in September 2007, demonstrated unanimous support for a fresh approach to flood risk management.
The proposals we have set out in this consultation paper are designed to establish a framework within which sustainable flood risk management in Scotland will operate more effectively than at present. They will ensure that there is no duplication of effort, and that the flood risk management process is simplified and better co-ordinated. Local authorities, who are accountable to local communities, and best able to judge the needs of their areas, will continue to be responsible for implementing flood alleviation measures, however individual local authorities cannot operate in isolation. Our proposals will establish a way of co-ordinating catchment flood management planning to ensure a national approach, delivered locally.
We have included options to simplify the present statutory process for approving flood risk management measures, and to remove the risk of two public inquiries being held; one on planning and one on flood risk management measures. We are confident that these proposals will reduce significantly the delays associated with this aspect of flood risk management.
We welcome your views on these proposals and hope that you will take this opportunity to consider what is best for the future of flood risk management in Scotland.
Richard Lochhead MSP
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment
Michael Russell MSP
Minister for Environment
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