Placemaking
In 2023, our Placemaking workstream expanded its brief to incorporate planning, alongside nature-based solutions, for community flood resilience.
The workstream will help to ensure that groundwater flood risk is suitably covered in the planning process. It will also ensure that the measures to provide resilience and resistance to groundwater flood risk will also create better places within the communities they protect.
In 2023, JBA Consultants completed detailed scoping work which confirmed that there is very little research and monitoring to determine how effective nature-based solutions may be in reducing groundwater flood risk. Following approval from the project board, the Placemaking workstream was split into two sub workstreams, Planning, and Nature Based Solutions. JBA worked with legal and procurement teams to set up the tenders for the required works.
Planning
TJAY Consultancy was appointed in September 2023 to lead the Planning sub workstream. They will start preparing guidance related to groundwater flood risk for the Local Planning Authorities. In the long term, they will look to see how Project Groundwater can influence national policy and legislation relating to groundwater flood risk.
Nature Based Solutions
The Nature Based Solutions sub workstream is currently out for tender. Once appointed, a large part of their work will be to trial nature-based solutions and see their effects in regard to groundwater flood risk. The workstream will also apply for and secure funding in order to develop any NBS schemes further.
Jed Ramsay (centre left) and Karen Fisher (right), with our Placemaking Planning workstream lead Fola Ogunyoye from TJAY Consultancy (centre right) and Joshua Bishop from RPA (left).
Find out more about Project Groundwater
