Celebrating SuDS with friends in Manchester

On July 19^th I was lucky enough to be invited to the celebration of 30 years of SuDS design and innovation with GreenBlue Urban. The event was in Manchester and there were old friends from Sheffield University, Civic Engineers, WSP and others. It was great to catch up with everyone and I delivered a presentation asking the delegates to ‘Squeeze more out of their SuDS’ by including fruit trees, soft fruit bushes and community growing spaces. Then I asked them to remember that habitats for wildlife are meaningless unless they meet the needs of the local species, so we considered using solar pumps to pump captured rainwater into the SuDS device to create reliable, small pools of water for hedgehogs, birds and other local wildlife. It was a great discussion, worrying about mosquitos, about the safety of children and about SuDS to allow us to adapt to hot summer spells. The array of SuDS schemes on display was inspiring and there were loads of ideas spinning around the room as we all chatted over a Danish Pastry or two! So next time you design a SuDS scheme, consider including a few fruit trees and gooseberry bushes to bring children and families closer to fresh food in your City.