Sustainable drainage systems to improve environmental outcomes in Cheshire East

Cheshire East Council has introduced new planning guidance to promote better water management in new development.

The purpose of SuDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) are to manage water differently in development moving away from hard surfaces and more traditional approaches that quickly drain water off-site. This is intended to allow permeable surfaces to let water drain naturally into the ground. 

The SuDS guide encourages developers to work with the landscape to identify where soft landscaping, planting and areas for water to soak-away into the ground can be used instead. This type of approach slows down water flow, reducing pressure on waterways, and leads to a higher quality of design and improved environment in new development. 

When the UK parliament announced a climate crisis in 2019, this resolved all local planning authorities to review how they deal with drainage systems, which is the background to the council adopting a SuDS Design Guide. The council’s newly adopted guide sets out clear expectations on how surface water can be managed in new development in a way that benefits the natural environment and works within the landscape.

Managing water more effectively and creating conditions where less water finds its way into the system – so sewers, streams and rivers are not overwhelmed – reduces the risk to people and property both now and in the future. SuDS enhance places by contributing to their distinctive character, encouraging nature, providing for leisure and enhancing the quality and wellbeing of an area.  

Cheshire East’s SuDS design guide has been produced to assist developers and designers to provide high-quality SuDS within Cheshire East that meet the four pillars as set out in national best practice which are to: 

• manage water quantity;
• manage water quality;
• promote biodiversity; and 
• enhance local amenities 

Proposals for new developments that do not achieve this could be rejected.

Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council’s environment and communities committee, said:

“The change in our climate locally, nationally and globally means that heavy rainfall is a far more likely occurrence than it has ever been, so we need to ensure that we are suitably prepared.

“The key is to ‘slow the flow’. We can’t change the weather we get, but we can take suitable precautions as a responsible local authority to minimise the threat of heavy rainfall, particularly in areas where our local communities are at flood risk.

“In doing this we can also improve the quality of the borough’s environment by making water-based landscapes a strong feature of places, promoting health and wellbeing and encouraging nature on our doorsteps.”

Councillor Mary Brooks, Cheshire East Council’s environment and climate change champion, said:

“This is an important and practical step that we can take to ensure that the impacts of climate change – especially those related to periods of more intense rainfall – can be managed in new developments to help reduce the risk of flooding for residents. 

“These type of design features help to soak more water into the ground, more slowly, easing pressure on watercourses. Not only that, but by following the SuDS guide I hope to see improved design and more soft landscaping in new developments that support habitats and our local ecosystems.”

You can view the council’s Sustainable Drainage Systems guide here: 

Supplementary Planning Documents (cheshireeast.gov.uk)