LANDSCAPING & EXTERNAL WORKS 71
PERMEABLE RETROFIT IS A WAY FORWARD FOR SUDS
A new era for SuDS management begins this year, so says Jamie Gledhill of Brett Landscaping. Here he explains why permeable paving is key for futureproofi ng high-risk developments, and what developers and housebuilders need to know.
PERMEABLE PAVING CAN HELP TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY BY REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF POLLUTANTS THAT ARE WASHED INTO THE SEWER SYSTEM
T
here is wide consensus across the higher echelons of the construction industry and government that the enactment of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 in 2024 is an important step for the sector. For this to be successful, it will require regular collaboration across a range of regulatory and civic bodies, so housebuilders and developers need to ensure they are working with all partners to fi nd satisfactory solutions to mitigate the risks of fl ooding on every high-risk development. This is a signifi cant challenge. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) report to the Government in November 2022 identifi ed that there are currently
325,000 properties within England that are in a High Flood Risk area that have more than a 0 of being fl ooded in the next 30 years. A further 500,000 houses have been identifi ed as being at risk of fl ooding within the next 100 years. As a result of the NIC recommendations the Government is following Wales in enacting Schedule 3 of the Flood & Water Management Act 2010 in 2024. This will require all new developments to introduce SuDS approaches to mitigate their impact on the drainage network and absorb surface water as close to source as possible. However, this will also have an impact on developments that require a retrofi tted solution to address previously unforeseen issues, or to improve upon the existing
SuDS provision on the site.
This is because as well as addressing the UK’s increasing extreme weather events, and issues like water scarcity, SuDS installations will now also need to increase water quality and add features that mimic nature to developments, enhancing biodiversity.
Achieving these new standards does not require reinventing the wheel. It actually allows housebuilders and developers to return to some tried and trusted solutions with the confi dence to know that they will help to meet all the new requirements. Take the use of permeable paving, for example. While there may be some concern that it doesn’t present as ‘green’ to the naked eye, it is arguably the best SuDS system
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