News from Caroline Russell: Urgent action needed to protect Londoners from flooding

Londoners could face a future of overwhelmed drains, flooded tube stations and streets putting homes and infrastructure at risk if the Mayor fails to accelerate the construction of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).

The escalating climate crisis means construction of these systems need to be stepped up to combat the risks from extreme weather on the horizon, Caroline Russell AM urged the Mayor today.

Scenes of flooding witnessed elsewhere in the country this week could be a worrying sign of what lies in store for London if the Mayor keeps lagging behind on this crucial project.

Caroline asked Sadiq Khan at Mayor’s Question Time today to provide an update on the provision of SuDS in his Transport Strategy. The Mayor is currently well behind his targets to change 50,000 square meters of surface area on and around roads each year into SuDS, to avoid letting rain run off into conventional drains and sewers, incapable of dealing with the extreme rainfall expected in the coming years.

Green Party London Assembly Member Caroline Russell said:

The Mayor’s admitted London doesn’t have the protection it needs from surface water flooding. All too often, heavy rains overwhelm drains, leaving deep puddles all over our streets, but as rain storms get heavier this risks flooding homes and businesses. The need to act is urgent.

Proper Sustainable Drainage is not just a solution to fixing street flooding it can also make the city a better place to live, with the introduction of porous pavements, more green space and rain gardens replacing murky puddles and tarmac.

The Mayor needs to show leadership and speed up the delivery of new SuDS schemes all over London to stop flooding closing our tube stations, blocking streets and putting the homes and businesses of Londoners at risk.

Caroline also asked for greater clarity on the construction of SuDS systems. So far, the Mayor has only provided data from 2019/20 - and in that year he was, worryingly, almost 22,000 square meters behind his 50,000 Square metre annual target. [1]

Caroline called on the Mayor to commit to every major Transport for London (TfL) scheme having SuDS built into its plans, making it easier for him and the city to reach these much-needed targets.

Caroline has been pushing for urgent action on this issue for years. Her 2019 report, London Warming, highlighted the dangers of surface water flooding to London’s tube stations, where 23 stations are risk of flooding from extreme rainfall.[2]

The flooding resulting from this week’s extreme rainfall elsewhere in the country should serve as an urgent reminder to the Mayor to install essential SuDS drainage systems across London.

The Mayor has previously admitted to Caroline that London is finding it hard to attract government funding for surface water flooding from which he said “London has little protection” [3] and today said 235,000 properties are at risk.