The Flood Innovation Centre is offering free support to help Lincolnshire and Yorkshire construction businesses to navigate next year’s building regs changes.
The introduction of the new legislation was one of the key recommendations of a Defra review for the implementation of Schedule 3 to The Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The review recognised the important role that nature-based drainage solutions play in draining land, protecting against surface water and sewer flooding, and reducing storm overflow discharges, as well as harvesting water at the same time as enhancing local biodiversity and amenity.
It concluded we: ‘must increase the use of these alternative solutions to improve drainage, particularly in urban areas’, where drainage systems can become overwhelmed, causing surface water flooding. DEFRA will shortly be consulting on how to implement the new policy in preparation for sustainable drainage systems becoming mandatory in new developments from next year.
Anton James, Project Manager at the Flood Innovation Centre, said: “I’m sure many developers and construction firms will want to know more about sustainable drainage systems and understand what this new piece of legislation will mean in practice.
“They certainly have nothing to fear from the changes. In fact, they’ll undoubtedly find that it saves them money as a result of what’s known as Biodiversity Net Gain, which is something all local authorities are required to address.
“Here at the Flood Innovation Centre, our team of experts are funded to work with eligible businesses in Hull, East Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire, as well as several other areas of the country. We can help developers and construction firms to understand the principles of sustainable drainage systems, as well as how and where to apply them. We know from speaking to our contacts within the construction sector that a growing number of developers are keen to address climate change and help protect our environment.”
He said sustainable drainage systems were a very important part of the solution and the new legislation was a positive step forwards in helping to make our communities more resilient in the face of climate change, as well as making our rivers cleaner and boosting biodiversity. We’d encourage any developers with questions or concerns to get in touch so that we can help them to prepare.”
