Urgently required action to reduce the risk of flooding may be delayed by the tardy progress of the Planning Bill, according to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

Last year, a series of floods caused by a combination of heavy downpours and poor drainage caused £3.3bn of damage and severely disrupted the supply of utilities - including fresh water - to thousands of homes across the UK. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee’s investigation into the flooding recommends that local authorities insist developers install Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDs) on all new developments. SUDs are drainage schemes designed to imitate the natural progression of water, reducing the dangerous build-up of surface water which caused last year’s floods.

The RTPI backs the introduction of measures for SUDs but is concerned that the slow progress of the Planning Bill could mean it won’t gain Royal Assent before parliament rises for its winter recess. The RTPI believes, as a result, the bill will have to be carried over into 2009, meaning that at least 10 avoidable months of potentially damaging development would have taken place by the time the recommended measures are formally adopted.

Rynd Smith, RTPI policy director, said: “Last summer’s devastating floods were a graphic demonstration that immediate action was needed to improve surface water drainage. Efra’s recommendation to promote the use of SUDs to mitigate flood risk is welcome but the vehicle it has chosen to drive this agenda forward is in danger of stalling.”