GPSJ Autumn 2024 ONLINE - Flipbook - Page 27
FLOODS FEATURE
reduce urban 昀氀ood risk and
improve water quality, biodiversity
and urban resilience. This need
not be incompatible with growth.
Indeed, they will make it more
sustainable.
There is some slight
strengthening of how SuDS are
considered within the NPPF.
Requirements for them only to be
delivered in ‘major developments’
have been removed. But lead
local 昀氀ood authority scrutiny,
adherence to operational
standards and provision for
maintenance is only still required
for major developments.
This hints that perhaps
government feels planning is
still the way to deliver SuDS.
That risks perpetuating the
consideration of SuDS as a
factor to be weighed up by
planners alongside all others
associated with a development
and prolonging the ambiguity and
adversarial nature of the current
planning system.
On the one hand a little more
colour and detail on what SuDS
might involve; on the other a strict
demand to “all do our bit and do
more” to deliver more housing
units with no more capacity or
clarity to enable their resilience.
As outlined in A Fresh Water
Future, an independent review
of water sector performance
and governance, SuDS must
be incorporated into all housing
developments to reduce the
load on conventional sewer
systems and unlock additional
environmental bene昀椀ts.
GPSJ
mimicking the natural water
cycle. This e昀昀ectively turns
urban landscapes into ‘sponges’
capable of absorbing, storing and
reusing rainwater.
We’re also starting to see
‘water-neutral’ developments
and initiatives like the Enabling
Water Smart Communities
(EWSC) programme. Pioneering
sustainable water governance
solutions to ease pressures on
water resources and manage
昀氀ood risks, EWSC brings together
industry stakeholders to rede昀椀ne
water as a growth enabler, using
water-smart strategies that
integrate water reuse, rainwater
harvesting and SuDS.
As climate change and
the 昀氀ood risk to new homes
advances at pace, nature
must be front and centre in
building resilience. We can build
sustainable housing in a way that
puts water e昀케ciency and 昀氀ood
resilience at its core.
https://www.ciwem.org/
Sponge cities
The report outlines a number
of ambitious water e昀케ciency
measures to achieve a fresh
water future, which could easily
become part of our planning and
development process.
In it we talk about naturebased solutions like sponge cities
and rainwater harvesting. The
sponge city approach focuses
on using natural elements,
such as wetlands and green
spaces, to soak up water,
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