Greens win landmark vote on urban flood prevention
19 October 2008
News from the Green Party | www.greenparty.org.uk
For immediate release | 20 October 2008
GREENS WIN LANDMARK VOTE ON URBAN FLOOD PREVENTION
Islington has agreed to groundbreaking Green proposals to help prevent flooding in the future. Greens are now hoping that other local authorities will follow suit, after the London Borough became the first to commit to cataloguing permeable ground, which allows rainwater to seep away and reduces the severity of flooding.
The proposal, from Green Party councilor Katie Dawson, was passed unanimously on Thursday 9th October, and will make Islington the UK’s leading borough for policies on groundwater management.
In the same vote, the council also agreed to look into using the survey to adopt a planning policy of 'no net loss' of permeable surfaces - meaning that open space could not be built over without at the same time freeing up ground elsewhere in the area.
Other planning policies that may be introduced as a result include ensuring that new developments incorporate permeable grass or earth surfaces to allow rainwater to drain away and the planting of more trees, which soak up moisture and reduce the risk of urban flooding.
Councillor Katie Dawson said: “Flood prevention is a cinderella issue in many urban areas, but recent floods across the country have shown us the huge human cost of failing to take groundwater management seriously.
"Rainfall patterns are changing and we need to plan ahead now. I’m delighted to be helping Islington to take these first steps.
"The motion is the first of its kind. Nowhere else in the UK is the commitment of "no net loss" applied. Nowhere else in the UK is there an inventory of permeable area planned."
Darren Johnson, Green London Assembly Member and Chair of the Assembly's Environment Committee, chaired an investigation into the loss of front gardens in 2005. He says:
"This is a huge step forward for Islington Council and I hope it will lead to many other local authorities in urban areas following suit. Katie Dawson has worked incredibly hard to push for this: a similar motion in March was rejected, and it is entirely down to Katie's persistence and credibility that we got it through this time."
Now the motion has passed, Greens in Islington have pledged to keep up pressure on the council’s executive to carry out the measures.
ENDS
Notes:
Text of the motion passed by Islington Council:
1. Experts now agree that the UK will have to adapt to a future of heavier, more concentrated rainfall patterns as local and global warming intensifies urban precipitation.
2. As seen elsewhere already in the UK, Such rainfall events threaten to overcharge local sewer and drainage systems, risking sewer flooding as these drains “back up” into streets and homes.
3. Use of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) and permeable surfaces rather than plain tarmac and concrete will allow more natural absorption of rainfall into the soil and gravel immediately below London’s surface and reduce this risk. SUDS also offer more attractive streetscapes and reduce urban ambient temperatures
4. Islington has currently the lowest proportion per capita of open space in London, and consequently very low natural rainfall absorption capacity; even this will shrink as the Borough’s population grows.
Council believes
That we have a duty to avoid the long-term costs and misery to its residents of sewer and street flooding, and to respond to the Government’s call to develop urban drainage plans to do so.
Council resolves:
To give serious consideration to the adoption of planning policies that maximise the use of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems and permeable surfaces in all developments, including a commitment to no net loss of permeable surface in any new development.
To call on the Executive to compile an inventory of permeable surfaces in the borough in order that gains and losses can be accurately monitored.
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