Amendments to the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme clarifying the definition of ‘ground level’ in flood affected areas have commenced. There is now a ‘flood hazard allowance’ when determining the height of a building located within a flooding and inundation area.
This means that if your site is affected by the flood overlay, then building height can be taken from the Defined Flood Event (DFE) level, rather than the original, natural ground level.
Previously, if land was in a flood affected area, the building height was measured from natural ground level (say 1.97m AHD), even though the flood hazard mapping required a minimum floor level of 500mm freeboard above the defined flood event (say DFE 2.76m + 0.5m freeboard = 3.26m AHD minimum floor level). This resulted in about 1.3m of building height being ‘lost’ to fill, in order to achieve the finished floor level required by flooding and keep under the height limit.
The amendment changes that situation. Using the example above, the maximum building height will now be measured from 2.76m (DFE).
If you have any questions regarding the above information, contact us today.