Making space for water
Urban flood risk and integrated drainage
Forest of Marston Vale (Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage Board)
Pilot Summary
The Marston Vale Surface Waters Group was formed in 1997 on the initiative of the Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage Board (IDB) and the Forest of Marston Vale with the aim of aligning development aspirations with flood risk management within the Vale. In 2002 the Group published the Marston Vale Surface Waters Plan (‘the Plan’), promoting the benefits of strategic sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) rather than piecemeal alternative solutions.
The IDB have embraced the principles of the Plan through the promotion of a strategic surface water strategy for Developments West of Bedford (‘the Master Plan’) as an achievable, integrated solution.
Our Pilot Study comprised three key objectives to determine:
- the impact of the Plan to date on the planning process;
- lessons learnt from the implementation of the Master Plan, and;
- the potential expansion of the benefits of the Master Plan and how any preferred implementation model could translate to other catchment projects.
Extensive consultation with key stakeholders was undertaken to each address Objective.
Objective 1 consultation concluded the Plan is regarded to be technically and hydrologically sound, yet hindered by insufficient appreciation of commercial aspects and a lack of evolvement to fit with emerging planning legislation.
Three Local Planning Authorities traverse Marston Vale, demonstrating significant variation in the extent of promotion of the Plan. Causes of this variation are explored, with remedial actions recommended. Private developers have widely implemented the Plan’s principles, whether through multiple parties sharing contributions to a surface water asset in implementing the Master Plan, or as a sole master developer designing a stand-alone strategic solution within extensive development proposals.
Whilst shared use of strategic surface water assets between multiple parties has scope to bring long-term benefit to all, Objective 2 documents the causes behind recent protracted negotiations between developer parties and the resulting uncertainty over implementation of the Master Plan scheme.
Consequently five potential foresights have been generated to ease delivery of strategic drainage solutions: a Heads of Terms; Section 106 Agreement; use of the Community Infrastructure Levy; extension of Compulsory Purchase Order powers for IDBs, and; upfront funding by a third party delivery vehicle with an ability to hold funds.
Objective 3 provided the opportunity to reconvene the two principal landowners at Kempston Hardwick to consider the merits of a future expansion of the Master Plan to include the two Kempston Hardwick lakes. The short-listing of the Marston Vale area as an Eco-Town further strengthens the need for the Plan, potential expansion of the Master Plan and the importance of partnerships in delivering its integrated principles.
The Pilot Study has proved a catalyst in reconvening the Marston Vale Surface Waters Group. A separate Steering Group has also evolved to review Pilot Study progress and to define a programme for future revision of the Surface Waters Plan. The Pilot Study outputs will prove pivotal in shaping the content of the Plan’s revision and its ongoing implementation.
Outputs
Page last modified: 25 June 2008
Page published: 5 March 2007