As more flooding hits the UK, the Landscape Institute (LI) is calling on the government’s new Floods Resilience Taskforce to adopt a strategic, nature-based approach to flood resilience.
The perpetuation of a ‘fixing problems’ approach, rather than a preventative one, will only increase risk to communities, and undermine the benefits to people, place and nature offered by nature-based solutions such as Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and Natural Flood Management (NFM).
The continued delay of the implementation of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act by the government, which LI members have helped to develop and would make SuDS mandatory across England, is only increasing the risk of future events. With more housing planned and as the climate continues changing, it must be implemented as a matter of urgency.
Recent flooding in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire follows flooding events in North West England on New Years Day, and the devastation of Storm Bert last November. On 7 January, Floods Minister Emma Hardy met with Environment Agency Chief Executive Philip Duffy to discuss the nation’s response, with a press release putting the focus of this discussion on the £2.4 billion sum set to be invested over the next two years on flood resilience, and the newly established Floods Resilience Taskforce.
Key principles of a strategic, landscape-led approach
It is vital that this investment, and the Taskforce, follow principles of a strategic, nature-based approach to flood resilience:
- Invest in SuDS and NFMs to leverage nature-based solutions at river catchment, regional and local urban scales, boosting biodiversity at the same time as flood resilience, while also reducing urban heat island effects.
- Take a whole-systems perspective that goes beyond terrestrial landscapes to include coastal zones and groundwater systems.
- Take a design-led approach to ensure that flood resilience is at the heart of urban and land use planning from the outset, with blue-green infrastructure prioritised and integrated into development processes.
- Integrate community engagement and partnership working into any flood resilience intervention, ensuring that interventions benefit from local perspectives and tackle social inequality by providing access to green infrastructure.
Carolin Göhler FLI, President, Landscape Institute, said:
“The landscape industry has the skills to enhance the UK’s flood resilience and ensure we adapt to the impacts of climate change. Developers and local authorities should make use of these skills early on in any flooding intervention.
Westminster can learn from the devolved nations, specifically Scotland, which is pivoting away from a ‘fixing problems’ to a preventative approach to flooding, and Wales, which implemented Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act in 2019.
If the government wants to achieve its housebuilding targets without worsening flooding it must act now and set the foundations for a flood resilient future – starting with the implementation of Schedule 3, and then continually improving the Act with future revisions.”
Case studies
See how a nature-based, landscape-led approach to flood resilience can benefit people, place and nature across urban and rural environments:
- How a flood alleviation scheme in Sidmouth doubles up as an amphitheatre for the local community.
- How a wetland habitat and managed floodplain create a new public realm as part of Mytholmroyd’s flood alleviation scheme.
- How wetlands, marshes and woodland contribute to an 11.6km flood alleviation scheme around Windsor, Eton and Maidenhead.
- How a network of ten primary schools in North West England are integrating SuDS into their campuses.
