Local government urges water companies to adopt Suds

The water companies should adopt newly developed sustainable drainage systems (Suds), according to the deputy chairman of the Local Government Authority (LGA).

Speaking last night at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, Mike Jones said the water companies “are the best people because they have got all the experience” that local authorities lack.

He went on to say that the water companies are best placed to take on Suds because they already have differential billing systems that could be used to charge customers fairly.

Jones added that councils will not accept new Suds schemes “unless they are properly paid for”, and it is clear who is responsible for their ongoing maintenance.

To help overcome this issue, and make it easier for water companies to adopt and pay for the maintenance of Suds, the government needs to create a technical standard “that water companies agree with”, he said.

Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water, added that his company already operated 30 different systems and has been pushing for the ability to adopt Suds.

He agreed with Jones that a set standard was needed to allow the water companies to adopt the Suds projects.

He said that the consultation that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) currently has out on Suds “gives us the opportunity to do that”.

Simpson told delegates: “From our point of view that is a really good thing and something we can do.”

Defra’s consultation proposes to allow local authorities to grant faster planning approval to Suds projects.

These plans also state that local authorities must identify “who will be responsible for maintaining the sustainable drainage systems” and “set out a minimum standard to which the sustainable drainage systems must be maintained”.

The consultation closes on 24 October 2014 and Defra expects that any changes to planning policy would come into force in spring 2015.