Building in the balance: a watertight approach to flood infrastructure?

Read the full report  

This short paper brings together ideas generated at a Re:State private roundtable led by Joanna Key, Director General for Regeneration, Housing and Planning at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Ginny Leonard, Work Winning Director at Balfour Beatty, applying them to the specific theme of flood infrastructure in England.

Infrastructure policy is in flux. Government is trying to accelerate delivery, reform planning, strengthen resilience and devolve more responsibility at the same time. Yet the institutions expected to make this work remain fragmented. Public expectations are contradictory: people are often wary of development in their own area, while also frustrated that the State seems unable to deliver major projects quickly, coherently or at scale.

These tensions are especially visible in flood and coastal resilience. Flooding is not simply a environmental or emergency-planning issue. It is a question of economic security, public safety, land use, infrastructure performance and the State’s capacity to manage long-term risk.

The roundtable that helped to inform this short paper was held under the Chatham House Rule and was kindly supported by Balfour Beatty.