On 2008-09-09 17:08:35 +0100, Gordon H
said:

In message , Broadback
writes
While waiting for my wife to shop I browsed the headlines of various
daily papers this morning. One of them,I never noticed which, claimed
the dear old government are planning to bring in rules about what we
can do with our gardens. It seems that this is an attempt to reduce
waste production, mainly grass clippings! What a racket this recycling
business is becoming. We spent energy to clean bottles, glasses etc for
recycling then is is all dumped together and shipped to India it seems,
where it is mainly dumped in landfill!

The only example of this, as far as I remember, is the proposed
planning permission which could be required to _pave over_ gardens.

The amount of flooding which has occurred over the last few years is
probably not helped by covering the land with concrete!

DEFRA will shortly introduce legislation to dispense with the
requirement to obtain planning permission for paving -- as long as the
paving material used is permeable. In view of the increased incidence
of flooding, it seems sensible to move away from hard landscaping which
could increase the flooding danger to our homes.

And when we suffer from drought instead, impermeable surfaces conduct
rainwater to drains from where it flows uselessly out to sea. Better to
allow it to be absorbed by the land, where some of it will reach the
aquifers. It could also reduce the risk of subsidence - which became
very common on clay soils during recent droughts.