Your article (Nearly half of UK garden space is paved over, RHS study finds, 21 October) clearly highlighted the impact that paving can have on biodiversity. It also touched on the role that paving can have in increasing flood risk. It’s good to see this issue acknowledged, but it ought to be sounding more alarm bells.
Surface-water flooding is now the most common, and least understood, source of flooding in England – 4.6m properties are at risk, according to a recent report by the environmental audit committee (EAC). With climate change leading to unpredictable weather, these issues are urgent. But the way flooding is managed is reactive and uncoordinated. The EAC report provides a roadmap to improve the situation and echoes the recommendations of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and other experts.
One recommendation is to establish a single national flood reporting and information service. Another is to run a flood-awareness campaign. Improving oversight and public awareness about the risks are good ideas. The EAC and ICE also recommend implementing schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, which would make sustainable drainage systems mandatory in all new developments.
Fiona Barbour
Institution of Civil Engineers
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