The Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (PFRA) is a requirement of the Flood Risk Regulations (2009). It covers many principles of the Flood and Water Management Act (2010). Under the Act, Cornwall Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) within Cornwall. To comply with these regulations, all LLFAs in England and Wales had to submit a PFRA to the Environment Agency by 22 June 2011.
About the PFRA
The PFRA was a high level screening exercise. It was used to locate areas where the local flooding risk is significant and warrants further examination. The scope included past flooding and possible future flooding from local flood sources. The focus was on flood risks from surface water and ordinary watercourses. It did not address flooding from designated main rivers or the sea unless there were interactions with local sources of risk. The PFRA identified priority local flood risk communities within the LLFA’s jurisdiction. Preparing the PFRA was the first step towards Cornwall’s local flood risk strategy. It provided an evidence base, identification and prioritisation of local flood risk areas.
The content of the PFRA is fairly prescriptive and the Environment Agency provide content guidance. But, the substance of the PFRA should reflect local issues and characteristics. It consists of a report and associated spreadsheets. The spreadsheets, designed by the Environment Agency, allowed LLFA submitted information to be assimilated and collated. The Environment Agency then submitted it to the European Commission. These spreadsheets are in Annexes 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the PFRA. PFRA preparation was one of several LLFAs responsibilities. The PFRA details other responsibilities Cornwall Council has to fulfil as LLFA.
The PFRA sets out arrangements for partnership working and data sharing, particularly between the Council, the Environment Agency and South West Water.
It considers the types of local flooding prevalent in Cornwall as well as reviewing historic flooding. The PFRA includes a chronology of major flood events in Cornwall. It also considers potential future flooding and its consequences. This was assessed using a method and flood risk indicators set by the Environment Agency. A detailed analysis of potential surface water flood risk in Cornwall is in Annex 6 of the PFRA. This analysis indicates there are no Indicative Flood Risk Areas in Cornwall. Indicative Flood Risk Areas are defined by the national threshold of 30,000 people at risk of surface water flooding.
A review of communities associated with existing flood risks is in Annex 7 of the PFRA. These identify locations where flooding is locally an issue but where it falls below national Indicative Flood Risk Area thresholds. Further work was undertaken to address local flood risk in these priority locations as part of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.
The Flood Risk Regulations set out a rolling programme based on a six year cycle. The PFRA was updated and resubmitted in 2017.
Accessing the PFRA
The below links will open in a new window.
- PFRA Report: The main text
- Annexes 1, 2 and 3: Past Floods, Future Floods and Indicative Flood Risk Areas
These Preliminary Assessment Report Spreadsheets are based on set templates. They were created for submission to the Environment Agency and Europe.
The past floods data in Annex 1 is also discussed in Chapter 4.2 of the main text. The future floods data in Annex 2 is also discussed in Chapter 5 of the main text. No Indicative Flood Risk Areas were identified for Cornwall. Therefore, none have been recorded in Annex 3.
Provided by the Environment Agency to aid in the reviewing of PFRA submissions.
This provides a compilation of past flood events and episodes in Cornwall.
This annex details the surface water flood risk analysis. It was used to identify Indicative or Proposed Flood Risk Areas. It assesses the risks to local communities associated with surface water flooding.