Phiala Mehring: Trustee of the National Flood Forum
‘Drainage is one of those ‘out of sight and out of mind’ type things. For most of us, the only time we contemplate drainage is when it goes wrong. In fairness, there wasn’t really a lot any of us could do in terms of maintaining old-fashioned drains other than not putting stuff down them that shouldn’t go down them. But all this is changing. With the advent of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), drainage is no longer just hidden under the ground. It is no longer the sole preserve of water companies, drainage & sewerage companies and local authorities. Residents and community groups can now play a (vital) role in SuDS; in how they are deployed and in how/when they are maintained. Simple SuDS has been designed by residents (floodies) for residents. The authors, Teresa and Phiala (that’s me!), have worked exceedingly hard to ensure that plain non-technical English has been used (and please do flag up anything you think is unclear). We’ve had a lot of advice from experts, for example CIRIA’s Paul Shaffer and his colleague Louise Walker, Eleanor Starkey from Newcastle University and Anna Beasley from JBA consulting. It was very important to both Teresa and Phiala that the document was factually correct. Just being simple isn’t good enough! This link will take you to the report