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The adoption process for SuDS will be
tightened, with systems having to meet
Government set minimum National Standards,
before they are adopted by the relevant Local
Authority. These standards will cover every
development from a single property on a
brownfield site, to a greenfield site, with
planning permission for hundreds of homes;
these standards will be the underlying
approach to surface water drainage and will
become central to a local authority’s
planning decisions.
If a developer’s plans do not meet the
required standard, there will be no right to
connect to the public sewer, as there is now.
To ensure minimum standards are achieved,
developers may be required to deposit a
financial bond with the SuDS approving body,
before work begins and only have the money
released on satisfactory completion.
For developers, the option to ignore SuDS
has now been removed and planning efficient
systems to an accepted standard will be
Lucky SuDS
mandatory. It is expected that many developers
will seek specialist assistance in planning their
SuDS and as manufacturers we have to take
this into account when developing new
products or increasing the design and planning
We are all aware of the important role Sustainable Drainage
support we offer customers.
The increasing pressure for higher density
Systems (SuDS) play in effective stormwater management.
housing developments in urban areas is leading
to the increasing popularity of modular geo
However, the significance of using SuDS will be brought into cellular structures to manage intense water
sharper focus under the Draft Flood and Water Management
flows and provide a temporary store for run-off.
Lakes, reservoirs and wetlands can provide a
Bill. Mike Shaw, from Wavin, discusses how SuDS play an
more artistic solution for water storage, but they
are expensive, occupy a lot of space and can
integral part in managing flood risk and how the latest
obviously be a danger to children living on
innovations offer developers even greater design flexibility.
the development.
Flexibility will be the key to meeting the new
T
here is now a general acceptance sites, where the sewerage system may be near SuDS minimum standards: the more options a
that our climate is changing; the to capacity and unable to cope with increased developer has, the better the chances of getting
only point of debate seems to be flow rates. approval for the SuDS and therefore the
the degree of man’s influence. Whilst SuDS offer some carrot to developers, development as a whole. Manufacturers are
The Government has shifted the Draft Flood and Water Management Bill constantly developing systems and products to
emphasis with adaptation to climate change an delivers plenty of potential stick in the form of a solve particular problems posed on different
additional driver behind policy decisions that change to Section 106 & 115 of the Water sites and developments. It is this knowledge of
will hopefully mitigate the effects. Industry Act 1991. This change removes the the regulations and ability to design adoptable
This need for adaptation led the Government statutory right of developers to connect surface solutions that always makes it worth talking to
to address the issue of ‘Improving Surface water drainage from buildings to public surface manufacturers before finalising a SuDS plan.
Water Drainage’. In April it announced its water and combined sewers.
Draft Flood and Water Management Bill,
with a raft of measures swiftly expected to
form new legislation.
SuDS featured heavily, taking into account
the quantity and quality of runoff, together with
the amenity value of surface water in urban
environments. Historically, surface water has
been moved away from the area quickly, but
this strategy has severe limitations when faced
with changes in rainfall pattern and increasing
housing density.
SuDS offer developers the ability to manage
run-off flow rates more effectively, protect water
quality and even recharge natural groundwater,
where appropriate. However, we must stop
thinking of SuDS as merely a means to control
flooding; it is now a wider issue encompassing
water quality and the overloading of current
sewerage systems. Developers can now utilise
a full range of SuDS to develop existing urban
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