Urban Creep, the paving of front gardens, is increasing our risk of flooding

Studies show that the risk of flooding to our homes and communities is silently increasing.  There is no doubt that due to the changing climate we are seeing heavier rainfall events that can overwhelm our drainage systems.  But this issue is not due to climate change.  In the quest for lower maintenance and increased off-street parking, many of us are paving over our front gardens.  The issue has even coined its own term – Urban Creep.

By replacing a front lawn or planting area with an impermeable service such as standard tarmac, concrete or block paving, the amount of water that runs from it when it rains increases dramatically.  The effect of doing this to one property may be small but, when multiplied to account for a street or a town, the effects can be huge.  This additional runoff then puts additional pressure on our drainage networks which are simply not designed to take it.  This increases the risk of flooding locally.

The latest estimates put the rate of increase in ‘hard standing’ areas, or Urban Creep, at around one square metre per property per year.  For a small town this means the equivalent of around half a football pitch per year.  For a town the size of Shrewsbury, an area the size of over five football pitches is surfaced every year.  It is not difficult to imagine the effect this can have on our drainage systems and there is no wonder that we see more local flooding as a result.

So what can we all do about it?  There is nothing wrong with extending a driveway, so long as it is done responsibly.  Driveway extensions do not, in most cases, need to connect to a surface water drain or sewer.  By using either a permeable surface (one that rainwater can soak through) or discharging rainwater runoff to a soakaway, the problem is resolved.  No new burden is put on existing drains and flood risk to our properties and those of neighbours does not increase as a result.

There are planning rules covering the paving of front gardens.  Further information is available via the gov.uk website – search for ‘permeable surfacing of front gardens’.

Mal Price, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for planning and housing, said:

“Everyone has a part to play to ensure that flood risk is managed within our communities.  Acting responsibly when considering the paving of our gardens to ensure that we don’t increase flood risk is one of the things we can all do.”