Land at Coopers Green, Uckfield

A combination of transport planning and sustainable drainage expertise from Motion helped secure approval for Silverleaf Group, who plans to build up to 35 dwellings in East Sussex.  The development will provide much-needed housing, including some affordable homes on land at Coopers Green, Uckfield.

One of the main obstacles was finding an outfall for surface water.  Surface drainage was a challenge due to the constraints of the site which had no obvious outfall.  Infiltration was not possible, therefore soakaways were not viable and there were no watercourses immediately adjacent to the site.

Motion adopted a multi-faceted approach to get all the relevant decision makers onboard and to agree a plan that everyone found acceptable.  After exploring all the options, the team proposed a connection to the highway drainage network.  The County Council had introduced a new policy allowing this if stringent conditions were met.

Motion’s sustainable drainage strategy also included permeable paving in the car parking areas and private access roads, and an attenuation pond which provides additional ecological benefits.  The wet pond can also help with filtering out solids and silt, as the sediment is collected in the bottom of the pond, preventing it from discharging downstream.

“We’ve worked with Motion for a number of years, and we value the pragmatic advice and problem-solving attitude they bring to complex schemes like this.”

Justin Owens, Group Managing Director, Silverleaf Group

Image credit: © ECE Architecture