iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Malvern Hills District Council are responsible for checking and enforcement of planning conditions and I don’t know what involvement they’ve had (if any). But this site seems to back up @WildJustice_org findings. Anyone with similar or (hopefully) different experience? Ends.

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In summary, this site has delivered almost none of the promised environmental outcomes after 8 years. Yes, it looks quite nice and provides useful green space but the only real benefit to wildlife is the developing area of scrubland as a result of zero maintenance!

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Wetland bits. A green drainage scheme was constructed but does not function as a wetland. Levels are all wrong. Bone dry 95% of the time, occasional ponding in extreme rainfall. No chance of ever being a functional wetland area.

Trees 5 of the original 25 standard trees specified on the plan survive. Three maples in the eastern corner give a glimpse of what could have happened with some maintenance. Nice informal clump with thriving native shrubs beneath.

Woodland planting areas. Nope Not had any maintenance since planted. All planted trees have died, some shrubs survive but bramble encroachment is extensive. Some self set sycamores thriving. Almost impossible to access now!

Wildflower area. Nope. A few early attempts were made to mow it but not in the last 5 years. Brambles, perennials and some woody shrubs rapidly turning it into scrubland. Not bad habitat but definitely not wildflower meadow promised which needs specific management.

A very nice seating area with nicely trimmed native shrubs and stunning views of the Malverns. Again, very well used by locals. And then there’s the path to nowhere. No idea why but it was on the plans so they did it! So far so good. But …

So 8 years or so later, how have we done? There is a nice area of amenity grass, well used by local kids and dog owners and regularly mowed (whether it needs it or not). Well manicured perimeter hedge.

In short the main commitments were an area of amenity grass benches, paths and viewing area a wildflower area areas of woodland tree planting and feature trees a sustainable drainage scheme with wetland plants

As with any significant development, a huge amount of plans accompanied the planning application, including detailed proposals for landscaping and environmental works. These included detailed drawings and schedules of work.

In 2014 Bovis Homes were granted permission on appeal (it was very controversial at the time) to build 45 houses on a greenfield site in Powick, Worcestershire. Work began later that year and the site was complete about 18 months later.

Dave Throup @davethroup.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

A recent report by @WildJustice_org suggests that developers aren’t delivering promised environmental outcomes on new developments. wildjustice.org.uk/general/lost-n… So I thought I’d put it to the test on a newish housing site close to me. A 🧵

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No, digitised gauge data only back to 1980s. There will be paper records somewhere. There weren’t any 5 metre plus floods in 1973. Recent big floods (2014, 2020,2021) seem result of multiple wet weather events rather than one big one

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Dave Throup @davethroup.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Huge areas of agricultural land are at risk of flooding from rivers & sea, with 60% of grade 1 land at risk. Amount of land and frequency will increase due to climate change. We can’t afford to protect all homes from flooding, let alone farmland. Difficult decisions ahead.

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Dave Throup @davethroup.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Yes, I would think so given the very significant rise in a short timescale. There’s nothing very obvious, such as unprecedented single rainfall events. They appear result from relatively modest 100-150mm over multiple days across upland areas. Maybe intensity has increased?

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Dave Throup @davethroup.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Yes 2007 is one of the two big floods I refer to on the Avon. 1998 was the other.

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Dave Throup @davethroup.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Here’s an interesting one. We’ve seen a very large increase in the last 5 years of big floods on the Wye, Teme and lower Severn No such increase on neighbouring Avon - only 2 really big floods in 50 years I suspect it may be due to the different weather setup needed to produce floods on the Avon.

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Dave Throup @davethroup.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Of course. Data on Welsh rivers is harder to come by - there isn’t a portal for historical data that I’m aware of

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Dave Throup @davethroup.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

My own chart. Take data from river gauges via hydrology data explorer environment.data.gov.uk/hydrology/

environment.data.gov.uk

Hydrology Data Explorer