Insurance giant IAG has welcomed the New South Wales (NSW) government's land-use planning reforms for flood-prone areas to protect people, properties, and infrastructure.
The rules and guidelines in the NSW government's new Flood Prone Land Package help councils become more flexible when making informed decisions on land planning in flood-prone areas, including better management of flood-risk above the 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP), best management practices in managing and mitigating severe flood events, and improving community resilience in floodplains.
The new Flood Prone Land Package also requires councils to consider flood evacuation routes and the impacts of climate change as part of development planning.
IAG executive manager natural perils, Mark Leplastrier, pointed to land-use planning, development controls, and building standards as the most effective ways to reduce the impacts of flooding and other natural disasters.
“Land-use planning is one of the most important things we need to get right to protect households and communities from the devastating impacts of severe floods,” Leplastrier said. “Unfortunately, many people build or buy a house in a flood zone without realising the level of risk they face or not having experienced a major flood in their lifetime.”
Over the years, IAG has been advocating against measuring flood risk using the traditional 1% AEP standard (a one-in-100-year flood event) mandated under the previous planning guidelines. It has suggested more appropriate assessments that consider the risks to life, safety, and the wider economic impacts of possible severe flood events.
“These reforms are an important step in greater alignment of land use planning with the flood risk of a particular area and will help ensure we're doing everything we can to not put people in harm's way,” Leplastrier said.
