Norton Road Rain Garden - initial design

Overview

Norton Road, Hove suffered surface water flooding and damage to basement properties during an extreme weather event in 2014 which you can watch in this video link.

In 2018 Brighton & Hove City Council declared a Climate and biodiversity emergency  and created a programme of works to respond to this emergency - the Carbon Neutral 2030 programme.

On our website's Carbon Neutral Fund pages you can find a list of projects being used to deliver this programme. The Norton Road rain garden appears on the climate adaptation page.

The proposed rain garden will extend out from the existing pavement edges at the junction of Norton Road and Eaton Road. The initial SuDS design proposed for Norton Road includes a new kerb line with small gaps to allow surface water into the rain garden. Cars will still be able to use this junction, and existing gulleys (street drains) will be retained. The rain garden will include biodiverse planting, 2 new street trees using specialised 'stockholm' tree pits, and the installation of permeable paving underneath some existing car parking spaces which will feed surface water into the rain garden. 

A rain garden is a type of Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) used to reduce surface water flooding. Watch CIRIA's (Construction Industry Research and Information Association) easy to follow video on SuDS. Rain gardens also increase biodiversity and allow opportunities to create shade and a sense of place and identity in the public realm. Here are three examples of small-scale rain gardens in London, Nottingham and Bristol.

We are consulting on four initial drawings:

1. a birds-eye view of the raingarden,

2. a long section of a structural tree pit,

3. a cross section of structural tree pit, and

4. a cross section of the raingarden.

The species and planting layout will be confirmed once the final design has been agreed. 

If successful, this type of small-scale rain garden could be used in similar roads throughout the city to help reduce overall levels of surface water flooding, increase biodiversity on our streets and improve the public realm.

Updates on the final rain garden design, installation and planting schedule will be shared on the following page: Get advice on flooding  

Why your views matter

All are invited to take part in this consultation. Your views are important to us, especially if you are a resident of Norton Road; and/or you are connected to the immediate local area and its local communities; and /or you are a statutory or technical consultee; and/or you have an interest in surface water and biodiversity. 

This rain garden scheme is at the initial design stage. Your comments and local knowledge will help to shape the final scheme. 

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