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Land Drainage Byelaws Consultation

This consultation is an opportunity for the public to get involved and have their say on the proposed implementation of Land Drainage Byelaws within Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council (RCTCBC / the Council). As part of the consultation process, we welcome comments from our risk partners, employees of RCTCBC and members of the public and neighbouring authorities. This is your opportunity to influence how RCTCBC manages the risk of flooding from ordinary watercourses.
This consultation will run for 6 weeks from 21st November 2022 to 2nd January 2023.

BACKGROUND

Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, Local Authorities in Wales were given additional powers and responsibilities for managing flooding from local sources including surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses. As part of these new powers, the responsibility for issuing ordinary watercourse consent under Section 23 of the Land Drainage Act 1991 passed from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFA) in April 2012.

Since taking on this consenting duty and wider flood risk management function, practitioners have noted that powers under current legislation are limited and certain activities which are not currently consented could potentially increase the risk of flooding especially in more built-up areas.

To address the above issue, Welsh Government approved a set of updated Land Drainage Byelaws to help Local Authorities in Wales to better manage land drainage and flood risk management functions through improved regulation.

By adopting a standard set of Land Drainage byelaws, it will enable consistency across the Welsh Local Authorities.

Our proposal is to adopt the standard set of Land Drainage Byelaws as approved by the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs. Some Byelaws such as those which relate to Tidal defences/outfalls are not applicable to the Council; however, they need to be adopted as part of the standard Byelaw set. They have been removed for the purpose of this consultation.

The consultation document lists the Byelaws we propose to implement individually, along with an explanation of the Byelaw which is contained within the red boxes.

For further information, please visit the Flood Alleviation webpage. 

Email us at consultation@rctcbc.gov.uk 

You can also...

Write to us: 

Freepost RSBU-HJUK-LSSSPublic Relations & Strategy
The Pavilions
Cambrian Industrial Park
Clydach Vale
Tonypandy
CF40 2XX

Telephone:

If you would prefer to speak to someone to provide your views please:
Telephone: 01443 425014 – between 9am & 5pm, Monday – Friday.

You are welcome to communicate with us in Welsh and this will not lead to a delay.