Do I need a planning permit from council to move rainwater drainage from the garage roof?

Ena123

Hello, 
it appears that the drainage we have now and that was there from before we bought the house is making part of the garden sinking slowly, about 5 metres from the house and this seems to cause cracks in the extension at the back of the house (towards the garden). The drainage is directed into under the garden turf. If we were to dig it out and redirect several metres further on our land do we need a planning permission from the local council? Or what rules are for cases like this in England? All around us are the houses arranged that gardens meet each other, it would not have an effect on any adjacent house. 
TIA.

FreeBear

In general, no.

However, you will need to pay attention to Building Regulations regarding the siting of a soakaway along with any associated underground pipework. - Just dumping rainwater on to a bit of spare ground is not a good idea. There are better ways of managing the water.

Ena123

FreeBear said:

In general, no.

However, you will need to pay attention to Building Regulations regarding the siting of a soakaway along with any associated underground pipework. - Just dumping rainwater on to a bit of spare ground is not a good idea. There are better ways of managing the water.

Can you please say more about the better ways? I am clueless. It was my husband asking me to email to the council, but firstly I want to see what options are there and get some brains about the topic. 

FreeBear

Better ways of dealing with rain water -

 Rain water harvesting (water butts, etc) - Free water when there is a hosepipe ban.

 Storm Crates - A glorified underground soakaway.

 Rain Garden - Basically, a soakaway sitting on the surface, but planted up with various plants.

Letting rain water run off the garden into the road is not acceptable, nor is dumping it into your local waste water drains - Both lead to problems with local flooding and can overwhelm the drainage system.

Ena123

FreeBear said:

Better ways of dealing with rain water -

 Rain water harvesting (water butts, etc) - Free water when there is a hosepipe ban.

 Storm Crates - A glorified underground soakaway.

 Rain Garden - Basically, a soakaway sitting on the surface, but planted up with various plants.

Letting rain water run off the garden into the road is not acceptable, nor is dumping it into your local waste water drains - Both lead to problems with local flooding and can overwhelm the drainage system.

I see, thanks. We do have water butts, three actually, during the growing season and I grow some plants that need water. But in winter, also because of the frost and damage risk, we empty them and keep inside the garage. We know it should not be directed into the sewage so just exploring other options and whether we need some sort of permission from authorities. I don't know what exact sort of drainage is there right now. We are quite handy and could do it ourselves, just whether some other regulations apply to where we are allowed to position it?

henry24

If it's something you can do yourself and it's going to make things better for you just do it and nobody will no

FreeBear

Ena123 said: We are quite handy and could do it ourselves, just whether some other regulations apply to where we are allowed to position it?

A soakaway should be at least 5m from any building and at least 2.5m from a boundary. It should also be sited on ground that slopes away from the property and you also need to be mindful of the water table & ground conditions. A good thick layer of sandy soil is about the best you can get (I'm on top of a 5m thick bed of sand). If you are on thick clay, a percolation test needs to be carried out and the size of soakaway calculated from there.

Depending on soil conditions, size of the soakaway, and the depth, it might pay to hire a mini-digger and operator for the day. If you have other areas that you want to landscape, make the most of his time.

One more point - Well worth fitting one of these to the bottom of any downpipes - https://www.floplast.co.uk/product/leafdebris-interceptor-gully - It traps most of the crud that will eventually bung up most soakaways.

Ena123

FreeBear said:

A soakaway should be at least 5m from any building and at least 2.5m from a boundary. 

Actually, the soakaway as it is called (new word in my vocabulary) is there since building the house in 1930 and since then they built an extension which makes that place just about 2.5m from the building, not 5 as I wrote previously (my other half is updating me as I write here). So it looks we should take some action. The garden is wide so it will fit the boundary requirement. 
As per the other description of the work needed and the digger, we will consider that. Thanks. 

FreeBear

Ena123 said:

FreeBear said:

A soakaway should be at least 5m from any building and at least 2.5m from a boundary. 

Actually, the soakaway as it is called (new word in my vocabulary) is there since building the house in 1930 and since then they built an extension which makes that place just about 2.5m from the building

I also have a soakaway ~2.5m from the house, and it straddles the boundary - Perfectly acceptable when the house was built in the late 1920s.. At the rear, I also benefit from a (disused) septic tank which now takes the bulk of the rain water from the roof. If you have something similar, it will save on a lot of digging.