Contemporary urban environments - Lamb drove

Paper 2 geography

Where is Lamb Drove?

Cambourne

What was the aim of the Lamb Drove SUDS experiment?

* to show case innovative sustainable water management techniques within residential areas
* to show that SUDS are a viable and attractive to traditional forms of drainage and to deliver practical solutions

What SUDS have been used at Lamb Drove?

* green roofs
* detention basins
* swales
* permeable paving
* retention ponds
* water butts
* filter strips

What is a swale?

shallow, broad and vegetated channels designed to store and/or move runoff and remove pollutants

What is a detention basin?

surface storage basins or facilities that provide flow control through attenuation of stormwater runoff. They also facilitate some settling of particulate pollutants

What is a retention pond?

a pond like body of water designed to permanently hold water and allow runoff to enter it and be treated

What is a water butt?

a large barrel used to collect rainwater

Successes of Lamb Drove

* less heavy metal concentrations
* half of copper levels at a nearby control site
* 1/6 of zinc levels at a ncs
* 1/12 of lead levels at a ncs
* 1/2 of chronium levels at a ncs
* substantial improvement to biodiversity
* more attractive landscape
* improved water quality

Challenges of SUDS usage at Lamb Drove

* very expensive to construct and maintain
* require specialist upkeep
* can only be properly implemented at the very start of a developments construction