Largely unnoticed thanks to a media dominated by the EU Referendum, The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has published a report finding that the Government is failing to protect communities at risk of flooding. The Government’s National Flood Resilience Review was launched following the…
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Commercial lawyers gathered in the newly refurbished Salters’ Hall in Central London on 9th June to find about Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), their priority within the latest drainage guidance and the implications for their clients’ redevelopment sites. Chaired by Stuart Pearce, Managing…
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GeoSmart was once again was proud to support another in a fascinating series of Castle Debates – this time on the uneasy relationship between agriculture and climate change. Farming generates greenhouse gases throughout its supply chain, yet it received little or no mention at the November 2015…
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In its second reading this week, the House of Lords made good its promise to push harder on real reform on flood mitigation for new developments in the Housing Bill. An amendment to the Bill tabled by Baroness Kate Parminter, Baroness Barbara Young and Lord John Krebs was pushed to a vote and…
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A report from the Environment Agency has conclusively demonstrated the real community benefits of letting nature do much of the work with flood defence protection. The natural flood management scheme near to Pickering, North Yorkshire proved its mettle during the intense Christmas storms that…
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The Environment Agency (EA) has devised a set of flood zones for guidance by developers, councils and communities to explain the probability of river and sea flooding, ignoring the presence of flood defences. Flood zones are shown on the EA’s Flood Map for Planning (Rivers and Sea), as…
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With sea level rises and greater surface flood risk, experts have warned that thousands of old landfills could become compromised and leach a cocktail of chemicals into water courses, beaches and streets. The UK has more than 21,000 historic landfills scattered across the country. 2,946 of these,…
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In the second of two consecutive blogs, we summarise the key outputs from the House of Lords National Policy for the Built Environment Committee meeting. Turning to the impact of climate change, the committee was fully behind the need for a more proactive approach to the provision of Sustainable…
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In the first of two blogs, we summarise the recent House of Lords National Policy for the Built Environment Committee meeting. This blog will focus on the key points on the role of brownfield land to meet the housing need and the issues in achieving this. It has been the policy of successive…
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Brownfield land is often seen as the solution to solving the housing crisis. While Authority planners will give preference to brownfield redevelopment, builders will be rightly concerned that the land could come with a financial as well as physical health warning. Understanding site viability for…
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