Paving The Front Garden

[Ash4781]

http://press.rhs.org.uk/RHS-Shows/Chelsea-2009/Press-Releases/Everything-not-so-rosy-in-the-Front-Garden-warns-o.aspx

"The worst place in the country for paving over front gardens is London, with half of all front gardens paved over and a 36% increase over the last ten years. London also had the biggest reduction of plant cover in front gardens in the UK, with five times as many front gardens with no plants compared to ten years ago. The North East is the only place in the UK that has reduced the number of completely paved gardens. Front gardens in the North East with 50% plants or more also increased by almost 30%."

To be fair in the press release they list alot of detail from the survey but they do promote plants and gardening so there's a degree of caution required . Where I am in Kent what I see with existing households is that they concrete over the front garden, and or convert the garage to a 'usable' room. If possible the kerb is then dropped likely on a retrospective planning. Cars are then parked outside the house and half up on the pavements. Of the newbuilds I have seen there isn't a pavement or a garden space as the house front to the road.

[porca misèria]

There are whole areas desolate with paved and decked ex-gardens, and no green.

In Italy I saw there was a point to this: areas free of green space were also fairly free of the mosquitos that make life a misery for many months of the year, and once (when the older areas were built) carried malaria. Here it's just a pure blight.

[DEATH]

Any of it down to buy to letters and immigirants?

[mmt]

http://press.rhs.org.uk/RHS-Shows/Chelsea-2009/Press-Releases/Everything-not-so-rosy-in-the-Front-Garden-warns-o.aspx

"The worst place in the country for paving over front gardens is London, with half of all front gardens paved over and a 36% increase over the last ten years. London also had the biggest reduction of plant cover in front gardens in the UK, with five times as many front gardens with no plants compared to ten years ago. The North East is the only place in the UK that has reduced the number of completely paved gardens. Front gardens in the North East with 50% plants or more also increased by almost 30%."

To be fair in the press release they list alot of detail from the survey but they do promote plants and gardening so there's a degree of caution required . Where I am in Kent what I see with existing households is that they concrete over the front garden, and or convert the garage to a 'usable' room. If possible the kerb is then dropped likely on a retrospective planning. Cars are then parked outside the house and half up on the pavements. Of the newbuilds I have seen there isn't a pavement or a garden space as the house front to the road.

A lot of the terraced house around here deposit rain water from the roof onto the pavements and eventually the roadside gutters. Some have even extended downpipes to the boundary of the properties to do so directly rather than installing a soak away. This puts pressure on the drainage systems during heavy rainfall.

[Si1]

It's now illegal to pave over your front garden without planning permission, unless you install soakaway drainage, owing to the cumulative impact that this has on the increase in flood risk

[R K]

Disappointed that isnt a euphemism Ive not heard before and this isnt in off-topic

[Errol]

It's now illegal to pave over your front garden without planning permission, unless you install soakaway drainage, owing to the cumulative impact that this has on the increase in flood risk

Yes, I was going to say all this paving greatly increases flood impact and leaves the water with nowhere to go.

[Si1]

Yes, I was going to say all this paving greatly increases flood impact and leaves the water with nowhere to go.

It's very solidly proven in the scientific literature in fact.

[Si1]

There's been this general move from the environment agency to stop promoting active flood defences in favour of passive ones (ie soakthru drainage), as a cheaper form of flood prevention. This also involves deregulating flood prevention in upland areas, so they flood, but the costs are much lower than transferring the flood pulse via channelised rivers and drainage to the cities. However the spoilt rich people in, say, the Somerset levels don't see it this way and demand their unfair share of government resources to make sure the poor people get flooded at much greater cumulative expense instead.

Edited May 19, 2015 by Si1

[OurDayWillCome]

It's now illegal to pave over your front garden without planning permission, unless you install soakaway drainage, owing to the cumulative impact that this has on the increase in flood risk

I thought SUDS regulation allowed the use of paving systems that let the water free drain.

[Si1]

I thought SUDS regulation allowed the use of paving systems that let the water free drain.

Indeed, providing it doesn't go through the normal drain system afaik

[happyrichie]

theirs no way im parking my car on a road no matter what the price is.

[winkie]

No dropped kerb anyone can park outside any drive/ concreted garden........the big problem with all these tarmacked front gardens apart from the ugliness of it all, is it can reduce other traffic being able to park on the road......

The growing shortage of space for people to park is really noticeable now.......residential parking, yellow lines and restricted parking for one hour during the day has increased ten fold.......blooming nightmare.

One house would require one, two or possibly three spaces if they have three generations of family living there......one large house turned into 12 independent units require six, seven or eight spaces.....no extra land.

[Austin Allegro]

It's usually pointed out this is to allow for parking, but I wonder if a lot of gardens also get paved over because people are just too busy on the work-consume-work treadmill to have time to do any gardening.

[Bear Necessities]

The thing I've always hated most when looking for somewhere to rent is always the agents' descriptions of otherwise perfectly ok houses as having "an easy to maintain garden" which is t**t-speak for "the BTLetter concreted over the whole lot and now it looks like crap".

Edited May 19, 2015 by Bear Necessities

[Ah-so]

A friend of mine recently concreted over his driveway. He did it with a heavy heart but I don't blame him. He lives quite near the station but with no resident's parking.

Slowly more and more paved their driveways and lowered their curbs. It became harder and harder to find a space as few houses had any space. It got to a tipping point whereby it was very difficult to park at all. Joining the club was the only thing to do.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

A friend of mine recently concreted over his driveway. He did it with a heavy heart but I don't blame him. He lives quite near the station but with no resident's parking.

Slowly more and more paved their driveways and lowered their curbs. It became harder and harder to find a space as few houses had any space. It got to a tipping point whereby it was very difficult to park at all. Joining the club was the only thing to do.

Spoken like a true BTLer.

[erat_forte]

Not possible to cycle to the station on a Brompton, and carry it on the train for use at the other end. No, owning a car is a human right I think.

A friend of mine recently concreted over his driveway. He did it with a heavy heart but I don't blame him. He lives quite near the station but with no resident's parking.

Slowly more and more paved their driveways and lowered their curbs. It became harder and harder to find a space as few houses had any space. It got to a tipping point whereby it was very difficult to park at all. Joining the club was the only thing to do.

[porca misèria]

The thing I've always hated most when looking for somewhere to rent is always the agents' descriptions of otherwise perfectly ok houses as having "an easy to maintain garden" which is t**t-speak for "the BTLetter concreted over the whole lot and now it looks like crap".

The ideal garden in a rental is a communal one, with a gardener included. For private outdoor space, a decent roof terrace or balcony.

I still have fond memories of the flat I rented in Germany. On the ninth floor of a tower block in a huge estate, yet had a balcony that offered complete privacy, not overlooked by any neighbour. Now that's what I call a well-designed block!

[porca misèria]

Not possible to cycle to the station on a Brompton, and carry it on the train for use at the other end. No, owning a car is a human right I think.

Owning a car wouldn't be so bad. It's when the buggers all demand their inalienable right to road space, both to move and to abandon in the way of everyone else.

Once upon a time I had a second bike, just to ride from the station to my office.