THE ETHICS OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN FLOOD PLAINS: INSIGHTS GAINED FROM A STUDY TESTING THE MERITS OF PALAEOFLOOD AND CONVENTIONAL FLOOD HYDROLOGY IN FLOOD CONTROL PLANNING AT SOWETO-ON-SEA

Adhering to planning ethics is especially relevant when flood control planning of communities who settled in flood plains is at stake. Soweto-On-Sea (SOS) is an informal settlement in the flood plain of the Lower Chatty River near Port Elizabeth. As part of a research project which compared palaeoflood and conventional flood hydrology in the planning of flood control measures for SOS within a Cost Benefit Analytical (CBA) framework attention was also given to some ethical considerations. This paper, inspired by the conduct, rules and principles that govern the informal settlement of SOS evaluates some flood plain development and planning issues with a code of ethical conduct for planners and comes up with explanations for "unethical" conduct of and towards flood plain residents as well as some suggestions for improving future planning and developmental endeavours.