The Government’s Future Water strategy makes clear that Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), including permeable paving, will be central to the country’s water management plans to tackle the ever increasing risk of flooding in our streets, towns and cities.

Marshalls plc, the UK’s leading hard landscaping transformation company has, for many years, offered alternative drainage solutions to tackle these increasing risks and offer innovative products which are cost effective, easy to install, flexible and meet the needs of contractors, surveyors, planners and architects to deliver long term SUDS solutions for their commercial projects including car parks, housing development areas, highways, estate roads and local authority projects.

Building Regulations, Part H now require a hierarchy of solutions to be considered before traditional methods of rainwater disposal are supplied and the water management team at Marshalls has recently been busy advising on best practice and training local authority planning departments and contractors on how Marshalls’ drainage products can alleviate many of the problems highlighted by the Future Water strategy.

Marshalls is ideally placed to offer a comprehensive water management range which includes its increasingly popular Priora Permeable Paving which has attracted attention due to its ability to allow surface water to filter through the construction at a controlled rate, reducing the demand on the sewerage network to a flow capacity well within stipulated guidelines whilst giving huge improvements in water quality thanks to the filtration process.

Matt Dolan, Marshalls Drainage Technical Manager comments “this form of sustainable drainage does not usually require extra land-take; if there is any hard landscaping proposed on a development, then permeable paving can be the SUDS solution that helps developers to secure planning permission. SUDS doesn’t just mean permeable pavements, linear systems can also be incorporated very successfully in a SUDS solution.”

Marshalls were delighted to offer a SUDS solution to Bedfordshire County Council recently to help with an area which was prone to flooding. Marshalls advised the Council to use their Mini Beany combined kerb and drainage system which has been proven to have excellent surface drainage efficiency and is used across the UK to cope with excessive rainfall.

A spokesman for Bedfordshire County Council said “our annual survey of highway issues has highlighted the increasing importance of flood alleviation and drainage works in Bedfordshire. One of the schemes we are working on is a new drainage system at Woburn Road in Kempston. The area often suffers from flooding and [Marshalls] new Mini Beany blocks will help alleviate this problem.”

Marshalls water management team has an excellent reputation for delivering knowledgeable and trusted advice on SUDS issues and, together with its free first class design service, can help Local Authorities, engineers and planners to offer a solution to problem areas liable to flooding, whilst ensuring they meet with Government guidelines on how to tackle the effects of climate change and ever increasing rainfall.

Email: diane.kay@marshalls.co.uk