National SuDS Conference Programme

Wednesday 20th June

09:00 - 10:00

Arrival, registration and welcome

10:00 - 10:20

Paper 1: Where we are now (issues and opportunities)?
Bridget Woods-Ballard, HR Wallingford.

10:30 - 10:50

Paper 2: NW Bicester Eco Development
Aydin Zorlutuna, Principal Landscape Architect - Urban Designer, Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd.
Fully integrating urban and landscape design with SuDS on this 5,000 home Ecotown, from masterplanning to detailed design of the exemplar first phase.

11:00 - 11:30

Coffee

11:30 - 11:50

Paper 3: A day in Hannover – Stormwater management in Kronsberg
Roger Nowell, Landscape Architect – Green Infrasrtucture and Flood Risk Manager, Sheffield City Council.
Many European cities can show us innovation in SuDS design. Kronsberg in Hannover has pioneered the management of rainwater in the landscape and can provide inspiration and confidence in the use of SuDS in an urban design context.

12:00 - 12:20

Paper 4: Great Western Park Didcot
Nicola Keen, Senior Landscape Architect, Allen Pyke Associates and Chris Patmore, Director, RSK
Developing a drainage strategy and phased implementation with landscape design for this substantial development. A site visit follows on Thursday 21st June.

12:30 - 12:50

Paper 5: Amenity and Biodiversity in SuDS
Bob Bray, Robert Bray Associates – SuDS Consultant and Landscape Architect.
SuDS can contribute to the quality of the landscape experience if integrated early in the design process. Examples of SuDS in Schools, Housing and Retrofit situations demonstrate just how effectively simple urban design criteria can be applied to providing amenity in SuDS.

12:50 - 13:00

Session Review with all speakers

13:00 - 13:45

Lunch

13:45 - 14:00

Paper 6: SAB Overview and Seminar introduction
Simon Bunn – Drainage Engineer, Cambridge City Council.
Cambridge City Council has taken a lead nationally in the promotion of SuDS through the publication of nationally acclaimed guidance and development of a SuDS Approving Body or SAB. This paper outlines their approach in forming the SAB. Simon will then lead a seminar to discuss common issues.

14:00 - 14:40

Seminar 1: Setting up the SAB
Simon Bunn (Cambridge CC), Barry West (Oxfordshire CC), Mark Welsh (Lincolnshire CC), Kevin Tidy (Bracknell DC)
An opportunity to learn from others who are grappling with the Standards and developing different approaches to the SuDS Approving Body (SAB)

14:40 - 15:00

Paper 7: Flows and Volumes – a Practical Approach to the Standards
Anthony McCloy – McCloy Consulting
The National SuDS Standards set out requirements for managing the quantity of runoff but do not suggest an evaluation process that the SAB should follow. Anthony will consider the various approaches to volume calculation and potential ways that figures can be presented to the SAB in an accessible format for evaluation.

15:00 - 15:30

Tea

15:30 - 15:50

Paper 8: Designing for Health & Safety
Nathan Davies, Team Leader (Leisure Safety), RoSPA
The design of SuDS at or near the surface, and particularly the use of open water, requires us to consider the issue of Health and Safety. Social attitudes to risk and responsibility have shifted in the last few years and RoSPA is the lead organization in the country to advise on this sensitive matter. Local Authorities and SuDS designers alike will need to take an informed view on H&S and a realistic approach that meets many criteria.

15:50 - 16:30

Seminar 2: A common approach to Health & Safety
Nathan Davies, Team Leader (Leisure Safety), RoSPA, Barry West (Oxfordshire CC), Simon Bunn (Cambridge City Council)
RoSPA will be joined by Local Authority officers who have to take day-to-day responsibility for Health and Safety. The seminar will endeavor to highlight the issues of concern and provide a realistic way forward for all parties.

16:30 - 16:50

Paper 9: SuDS Guidance – an Authorʼs View
Steve Wilson, Technical Director, EPG
Steve Wilson has contributed more than most to the body of guidance used in the design and management of SuDS. His pedigree ranges from general SuDS guides like ʻSustainable drainage systems – Hydraulic, structural and water quality adviceʼ, CIRIA C609 – 2004, to practical guides on permeable pavements and the recent ʻSuDS Design and Adoption Guideʼ for Cambridge City Council.

17:00 - 17:20

Paper 10: SuDS Retrofit – a Review of the The CIRIA Guide
Chris Digman, MWH
The need to move from SuDS on greenfield and re-development sites to the more challenging arena of existing landscapes, particularly in cities where the impact of climate change on an aging combined sewer network is increasingly evident, has at last been tackled in this new guide.

17:30 - 17:45

Session Review with all speakers

17:45 - 18:00

Briefing for Thursday Morning Site Visits

19:00

Conference Dinner

Thursday 21st June

08:30

Coaches depart from the Conference Centre

09:00

Site 1 – an established, high density compact urban housing development in Abingdon with permeable paving

09:45

Depart Site 1, travel onwards

10:15

Site 2 – a new, large, medium-density housing project in Didcot with multiple SuDS techniques planned, under construction and in use

11:15

Depart Site 2, return to Conference Centre

11:45 - 12:15

Coffee at the Conference Centre

12:15 - 12:55

Seminar 3: The Oxfordshire Experience
Barry West, Gordon Hunt and Green Spaces Manager (all Oxfordshire CC), Chris Patmore (RSK), Stephen Davies (Hyder Consulting)

13:00 - 14:00

Lunch

14:00 - 14:20

Paper 11: The FLOWS – monitoring SuDS at Lamb Drove, Cambourne
Richard Stevens, River and Coastal Scientist – Water Management UK, Haskoning UK Ltd.
The SuDS at Lamb Drove has been monitored for a number of years and has demonstrated how a relatively straightforward SuDS scheme has performed under normal operating conditions. This paper summarises the final monitoring report and the wider implications for SuDS.

14:30 - 14:50

Paper 12: A Housing Developer’s Perspective on SuDS
Stephen Wielebski, Divisional Development Director, Miller Homes Limited. Stephen holds an MSc with distinction in Environmental Geotechnology from the University of Bolton.

15:00 - 15:30

Tea

15:30 - 16:10

Seminar 4: Adoption and Maintenance
Roger Nowell (Sheffield City Council), Barry West (Oxfordshire CC), Mark Welsh (Lincolnshire CC), Simon Bunn (Cambridge CC)
The second part of the SAB responsibility is to offer Adoption and Maintenance that meets the Evaluation Criteria required by the SAB. The Adoption process will need to ensure that a SuDS design is constructed properly and maintain the asset in perpetuity. This seminar considers the issues raised by these new requirements.

16:10 - 16:30

Paper 13: Taking SuDS Forward
Bob Bray, Robert Bray Associates – SuDS Consultant and Landscape Architect
To close the Conference, a tour of exemplary SuDS projects in the UK and abroad to provide inspiration – and an occasional word of warning!

16:30

CONFERENCE CLOSE