Another feature of the public design guide coming before Brent's Executive shortly should be a greater emphasis on soft landscaping in traffic schemes. Above is an unusual example of some soft landscaping in a current scheme, the one being built outside Willesden Library Centre, but hitherto no one has really worried too much about soft landscaping on public highways in Brent.
This is a little odd, since planning policy pays a lot of attention to the issue. Whenever there is a major new development, we ask the builders to follow something called Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS). This is a set of techniques to slow down the rate at which rainfall hits the drains and thereby reduce flooding risk. As climate change gets worse, this will become more and more important as we will we get rain in shorter, more torrential bursts. Similarly, if you want a parking space in your front garden, Brent Council insist on having at least half the garden as soft landscaping to promote drainage.
It therefore seems odd that we don't make a suimilar insistence on the highways where we actually own the land. For instance if you look at the Church End roundabout or the traffic island in the middle of Church Road is there any reason why that land could not be kept as soft landscaping and help water drain away?
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