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Rules and Regs;


boris1066

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Had a bit of a rummage around the web yesterday and it seems that you need to ensure that there is adequate drainage to any paved area at the front of your property. You are not allowed to let the water flow over the footpath into the gutter and if you do not already have a driveway into your property you will need to get the council involved to check that the access is strong enough to get a vehicle over without damaging any underground services.The acronym SUDS cropped up quite a lot but with little or no information as to what it stands for. from the few inadequate descriptins it may have something to do with drainage. worth a look yourself, think i typed "paving a front garden" in my search engine and just went through what came up.

 

In saying that it is a bit vague and the few sites that I looked at were confusing as to what you can and cannot do.

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Take a look here - https://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/house

 

You need planning permission if you cover more than 5 square meters (which isn't much more than a footpath!) with non-porous materials such as tarmac or concrete if the water run-off is not contained within the property.

I never knew there were rules for doing your front garden and I net most people don't either. 

 

I'm still a bit confused though.  If you have a drain on your drive to take the run off rain/surface water into the main sewer systems does that mean you so NOT need planning permission then as after all Unitied Utilities charge you for surface water drainage no matter how much it rains or how many downspouts you have ?

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No, the run off must be contained within the property by means of directing it into flower beds, a buried soakaway, or similar.

 

The reason you can't send it into the drains is that with the large numbers of new build estates on previous free draining land and huge numbers of front gardens getting paved for parking, the storm drains and the rivers they discharge into wouldn't be able to cope with the surge of run-off in a heavy downpour.

 

There's also the issue that driveways tend to get oil dripped on them, have rubber residues from tyres, soap residues from car washing, and often get weedkillers and other chemicals applied to them. We don't want those things to be washed into the storm drains and be discharged untreated into natural watercourses.

 

Basically, if you cover over land which would have naturally absorbed heavy rain then you must provide alternative means for the rain to soak away naturally.

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The council regularly spray along the footpaths with weed killer that will wash into the drains in the street. roads have cars on them and the water from all that rubber washes nto the drains in the street. quite a few cars leak oil when they are be driven as well as stationary which goes onto the road and subsequently washes into the drains in the street. people around where i live wash their cars in the street as they have no offroad parking and the resultant soap residues go into the drains in the street. all of which empty into the storm drains and thus into the natural watercourses and remain untreated. so what is the difference.

 

end of devils advocate roill for this topic.

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