Nottingham City Council expects every development

to consider sustainable drainage measures from the outset.

Site investigations for major developments must include a flood risk assessment at the planning application stage (both outline and full planning). This should also assess the drainage strategy proposed.

Surveys undertaken should include some ground investigation and infiltration testing, which will help inform the drainage design and flood risk assessment.

The development must consider the use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and should prioritise incorporating rainwater re-use. For water that cannot be reused, the building regulations hierarchy for the disposal of surface water must be followed.

SuDS should be utilised to achieve multiple benefits e.g. biodiversity, carbon capture, amenity etc. The CIRIA SuDS Manual (2015) and DEFRA’s Non-statutory technical standards for sustainable drainage systems (2015) should be adhered to with regards to the design.

For major developments in catchment and greenfield sites (River Leen and Day Brook catchment), we request that discharge rates are restricted to the greenfield run-off rate for the site, or 5 l/s per hectare. This must be supported by the relevant calculations and drainage strategy, and if infiltration is deemed a feasible method for this site, we would need to see evidence of the appropriate infiltration testing (BRE365).

The Drainage Strategy, as a minimum, should contain:

1 Details of how the surface water runoff will be managed.

2 Drainage plan showing the layout of the proposed drainage (both foul and surface water).

3 Proposed Adoption of SuDS features (who will maintain the SuDS features).

4 Maintenance plan for the lifetime of the development (how will the SuDS features be maintained).

5 Relevant surface water calculations from licenced software.

6 Evidence of how the proposal ulitises drainage solutions to achieve a biodiversity net gain.

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