so much fer the hobbit garden

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Flood risk rises as gardens disappear

London mayor urged to halt paving-over by homeowners

 

John Vidal, environment editor

Saturday September 3, 2005

 

Guardian

 

The London front garden, mostly set back from the road behind a low

brick wall, was known for its neatly clipped privet hedge, its row

of pansies and its patch of lawn. Today it is more likely to be

covered in concrete, be sprouting Mondeos, Volvos and Golfs and

causing flash floods.

The London Assembly has calculated that the city's love affair with

the car has led to the paving over of roughly two-thirds of its 1.9m

front gardens - an area roughly 22 times the size of Hyde Park.

This, it suggests, has increased the local temperature, led to a

dirtier environment, greatly reduced the amount of greenery in the

city and encouraged more car noise and pollution.

 

But, above all, says the assembly's environment committee, the loss

of gardens has put immense extra pressure on drains.

 

" The more the ground is covered by hard surfaces, the less rainfall

will soak into the ground. The drains then overflow and the contents

are discharged into rivers, putting extra pressure on our already

creaking Victorian sewerage and drainage systems. "

 

Last year more than 1m tonnes of raw sewage overflowed twice into

the Thames during flash floods. " The huge scale on which London's

front gardens are being paved over is contributing ... to the

overflow of the drainage and sewerage systems during heavy

rainfall, " says the report.

 

The study says two-thirds of front gardens are now completely or

partially covered by paving, bricks or concrete. Together, these new

parking bays cover 12 square miles, the size of several boroughs.

 

" If anyone suggested building a car park the size of the London

boroughs of Islington and Hammersmith, or 22 times the size of Hyde

Park, Londoners would rightly be up in arms, " says the report.

 

" But because this phenomenon is happening gradually and locally, it

has not been taken seriously. "

 

The committee found that different areas of London treated

applications to convert front gardens into driveways differently.

Whereas Havering approved 97% of all applications, Islington only

approved 76% and Merton 70%.

 

Yesterday, Darren Johnson, chairman of the cross-party committee,

said people paved over gardens mainly to create off-street

parking. " But convenience and a desire to create minimalist gardens,

fuelled by TV makeover shows, have also played a role " , he said.

 

The committee argued that central government should change planning

laws to give boroughs more power to turn down conversions. It called

on Ken Livingstone, the London mayor, to promote and protect the

gardens.

 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

 

 

 

 

Those who control the past, control the future; Those who control the future,

control the present; Those who control the present, control the past.^