Legislation, policy, official guidance
The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/uksi_19950418_en_1
The Town & Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (No.2) (England) Order, 2008:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20082362_en_1
Communities and Local Government 2008 Guidance on the permeable surfacing of front gardens, covering the options for achieving permeability and meeting the condition for permitted development status following the 2008 changes making the hard surfacing of more than 5 square metres of domestic front gardens permitted development only where the surface is rendered permeable:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/pavingfrontgardens
The Stern Review : The Economics of Climate Change, 2006, H M Treasury. In Part V, Chapter 19, Section 19.4 the report discusses the role for regulation in overcoming market barriers to adaptation in the context of land-use planning. The report points out that land-use decisions leave a substantial legacy, and that "individual decisions to pave over front-gardens in London have led to a loss of permeable drainage surface equivalent to 22 times the size of Hyde Park, increasing the city's vulnerability to flash-flooding substantially. Each individual decision may be rational, but in aggregate this loss of permeable land will leave a legacy for future generations living in London."
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sternreview_index.htm
London Assembly and GLA
"Crazy Paving: the environmental importance of London's front gardens", report of the London Assembly Environment Committee, September 2005:
http://legacy.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/environment/frontgardens.pdf
Gardens and green spaces
Royal Horticultural Society Gardening Matters series, No. 1 Front Gardens - Are we parking on our gardens? Do driveways cause flooding? Includes designs for front gardens with parking, and information on porous materials:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Sustainable-gardening
Greater London Authority guidance, aimed at London's gardeners, on how to cope with climate change (less water, higher temperatures), tips on what to plant and designs to save water and energy and help support wildlife
http://www.london.gov.uk/sunshinegarden/docs/leaflet.pdf
London Wildlife Trusts Garden for a Living London campaign:
http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/gardening/Home/tabid/384/Default.aspx
Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL) the capital's open space and biodiversity records centre - detailed information on London's wildlife, parks, nature reserves, gardens and other open spaces.
Water, rain and flooding
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs "Future Water" the Government's water strategy for England contains information on surface drainage:
http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/water/strategy/pdf/future-water.pdf
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on soil sealing: the covering of the soil surface with an impervious material or the changing of its nature so that the soil becomes impermeable
http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/land/soil/built-environ/soil-sealing.htm
Environment Agency website has information on flooding, flood risk and water management:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/
Thames Water sewer flooding alleviation: more intense storms resulting from climate change, increased housing development and the paving over of green spaces to provide off-road parking are all increasing the amount of surface water entering the sewer network. This, combined with people disposing of inappropriate waste in the sewers, is contributing to an increased risk of sewers flooding homes and properties.
http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/SID-393C6ADE-D8675FDD/corp/hs.xsl/6163.htm
Drainage and surfacing materials
CIRIA Construction Industry research & information: news and information on sustainable drainage systems (SUDS):
Interpave, the Precast Concrete Paving and Kerb Association: advice on surfaces and guidance on "Paving For Rain" and "Responsible Waste Water Management Around The Home":
http://www.paving.org.uk/paving_for_rain_topical.php
Royal Horticultural Society Gardening Matters series, No. 1 Front Gardens - Are we parking on our gardens? Do driveways cause flooding? Includes designs for front gardens with parking, and information on porous materials:
Town planning
Urban Design Alliance "Returning Roads to Residents: a practical guide to improving your street" (published in 2001) has useful information on the roadspace pavement crossovers take up and suggestions for reviving roads where most of the front gardens have been turned in to car parks. It can be obtained from the Institution of Civil Engineers, Thomas Telford Publishing, ISBN 0 7277 2947 7, free of charge, 25 pp or downloaded from:
http://www.udal.org.uk/projects.html
Biodiversity
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, De Montfort University and Natural England research suggests paving over front gardens contributes to declining numbers of sparrows:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-203663
University of Sheffield Biodiversity in Urban Gardens (BUGS) Projects: research into the biodiversity and conservation value of domestic gardens in urban areas. The original BUGS project was a detailed investigation of the biodiversity and habitats in gardens in a single city (Sheffield), completed in 2002. The second project involved similar work across five cities in the UK and ran from 2004-2007. The projects focused on back gardens.
http://www.bugs.group.shef.ac.uk/