4. The Sustainable Drainage (Enforcement) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2019

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:51 pm on 26 November 2019.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 3:51, 26 November 2019

Thank you, and I thank Members for their contributions. I think it's absolutely vital that we deliver a drainage infrastructure to meet the demand placed on it, whilst also reducing flood risk and protecting water quality and providing a wider range of community benefits, as Huw Irranca-Davies was alluding to. 

I really do hope, in answer to other people's concerns, that developers and SuDS-approving bodies work together to ensure that enforcement action is unnecessary and, certainly, I would hope that the initial approvals sought would make sure that that doesn't happen. 

Regarding the fines—about being proportionate, of course, that's very important. Again, I think the scale of fees that are chargeable for an SAB approval is set out in the regulations, so any larger sums that are incurred might be attributable to the use of a third-party consultant. They're not governed by the regulatory regime for SuDS, but again I think engaging in early discussions with both the planning authority and the SAB will provide the developer with clarity on the design requirements for the site, keeping their detail design cost to a minimum.