IPSWICH: Thousands of homes at risk of flooding will be better protected in the future under new government plans, it is claimed today.

Naomi Gornall

IPSWICH: Thousands of homes at risk of flooding will be better protected in the future under new government plans, it is claimed today.

Many properties in Suffolk, including 4,000 homes in Ipswich, are at risk of surface water flooding, which is when heavy rainfall overwhelms sewers and drains and the water has nowhere to go.

But provisions in the Flood and Water Management Bill will give local authorities new roles and responsibilities to manage surface water flooding to help better protect the public.

The bill will require all new developments to include sustainable drainage - alternative ways of dealing with rainwater which do not involve connecting to the sewer. This can include ponds on site, reed beds, permeable paving, soakaways and roadside ditches.

Until their drainage proposals were approved, developers would not be able to start building. In 2007 two thirds of the severe flooding was caused by surface water flooding.

The provisions for the bill follow serious flooding in Cumbria, which has affected hundreds of homes and resulted in a police officer losing his life.

Environment secretary Hilary Benn said: “As climate change takes hold we'll see more severe weather in future, with heavier rainfall and potential flooding - and the weather in the last couple of weeks has shown that this risk is very real.

“Add this to the need to provide homes for a growing population in future and it's clear that our homes and businesses need to be protected from the beginning from surface water flooding, which as we all know has had a devastating impact in recent years. Including sustainable drainage measures in all new developments will go some way to doing this.”

Do you think enough is being done to protect homes from flooding? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.