Forum Topic

How Ealing Council could help solve the excess water problem

Stop agreeing to the installation of pavement crossovers.This would ensure that no more front gardens would be paved over and used for car parking..... and that rain water could thus percolate through the soil, be taken up by trees and other plants and not enter the water table causing flooding.Yes / No ???

Dee Cook ● 4603d10 Comments

Yes, or at least create front gardens that are both drainage- and car-friendly!I miss lovely front gardens that you could look at and admire as you walked by.

Olga Sidoryk ● 4603d

And stop building houses in suburban back/side gardens .......

Rosco White ● 4603d

Some Councils put up bollards when a crossover has been illegally created.  (You have to get Council permission for a crossover.) The surface used to have to be permeable - or permeable after a certain size.If you suspect that anyone has done this then you should contact the Council.The Royal Horticultural Society have a pamphlet of ideas on how to achieve a better result than just paving over the garden.  The Council should also not allow (make sure it doesn't happen) rainwater pipes to discharge straight onto the pavement instead of into a soakaway or drain on the property.  When this water freezes on the pavement in winter the householder is likely to find himself/herself being sued for any accident that results.

Philippa Bond ● 4603d

Which department should you contact?Another bug bear about paved front gardens is that it reduces the parking on the street by more than the length of one car to allow driving in and out of the paved front garden. this makes it harder for other residents of the street to park on said street and this then puts pressure on them to do the same and before you know.... no more front gardens. very sad. Although it is illegal to block in a car you are perfectly entitled to park in front of a paved garden if it hasn't got a dropped curb. you do risk getting a key dragged down the side of your car though.

Kim Rugg ● 4601d

I don't like paved gardens or drop curbs, but the council has no powers to stop them. They are now supposed to be constructed so that rainwater drains into the soil. Depends on your neighbours doing the right thing - they are the people building the driveways and paying for the drop curbs.

Pete Grist ● 4599d

We are the only not-dropped curb for five houses. I have become rather cavalier about it and assume someone will bang on my door if I block them in - given I know my neighbours and they know my car.

Sara Nathan ● 4599d

You can't legally necessarily just have one because you fancy one.http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200083/roads_highways_and_pavements/233/dropped_kerbs/2

Philippa Bond ● 4598d

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Sustainable-gardening/pdfs/FrontGardens

Philippa Bond ● 4598d

So a lot of the flooding problems are caused by too much water flowing at speed down our drains into rivers ...and not by slow percolation through the soil.  So let ealing council lead the way, environmentally,  by not allowing any more car parking  on frontages, by refusing permission for pavement crossovers.  Simple.  But of course they will lose revenue which will have to be made up by other means.Or if ealing council don't feel abke to do that....if they do allow them...make it a condition of agreement for the crosover that the applicant plant say 3 trees in the vicinity of the crossover.

Dee Cook ● 4597d

Perhaps they should start by billing for illegal crossovers!?

Philippa Bond ● 4595d