Extreme weather and flooding is becoming increasingly frequent, with devastating consequences, as we have seen here across the North since New Year’s Day.

Managing rainfall is becoming an increasingly challenging task across the UK. Rainwater management needs to be improved for the existing systems to cope with the increasing consequences of flooding, pollution, combined sewage overflows, and drought.

Green and blue infrastructure solutions are a way to adapt to a changing climate that reduce flood risk in a more natural way, and at the same time create greener streets and spaces which help to clean the air, store carbon, and improve health and wellbeing.

Our team across the practice are specialists in such nature-based solutions and have shared their expertise to inform Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s newly published Greater Manchester Sustainable Drainage Design Guide, which you can read here.

The guide aims to support the delivery of SuDS at scale across the city region, to build resilience against climate change and boost the ecological diversity of our urban environment.

It aims to provide guidance on the design, delivery and maintenance of SuDS in the context of Greater Manchester.

It includes helpful insights on the key principles and benefits of SuDS, and myth busting some of the common questions of such schemes, with our team sharing best practice from our projects, including Altrincham Public Realm and Kingsway in Stretford.

Paul Morris, director at Civic Engineers, commented: “Extreme rainfall and severe flooding are becoming increasingly frequent with devastating consequences to homes, local businesses and communities, as we have seen across the North West since New Year’s Day.

“Our historic infrastructure cannot withstand the worsening impact of climate change. We must urgently adapt our built environment to become climate resilient and better at managing rainfall, with green and blue infrastructure solutions to reduce flood risk in a natural way.

“The policy wheels are beginning to turn and local authorities such as GMCA are making progress in promoting sustainable urban drainage, but we need greater engagement across the board to drive real change. It’s a challenge we cannot afford to ignore.”