Brent doesn't suffer from the kind of flood problems that you see in Somerset, but it does still have vulnerability on a smaller scale, as I have pointed out for some time. It isd therefore important for Brent to do what it can to prevent surface water flooding.
Partly this can be done through improved gully cleaning. The new Highways Contract should improve the effectiveness and frequency of the cleaning of Brent's 24,500 gullies. This should lessen the likelihood of surface water flooding that we see in some parts of the Borough.
Over the longer term, changes to the planning rules could make a difference. Water conservation is an important part of the CSH standards for housing (which David Cameron has threatened to strip away) and BREEAM status (Our own Civic Centre is a fine example). We have also for a long time imposed conditions around large planning applications using Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems principles (SUDs). The proposed changes to planning policies that the Planning Committee discussed a few days ago should toughen these up somewhat.
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