On this page the problems are summarised in five broad categories. On the next page, 43 individual problems are listed.

1. Problems caused by using impermeable & artificial surfaces

When it rains, hard surfacing causes increased run off, increased pressure on the drainage system and risk of sudden flooding. Instead of being neutralised by slowly percolating through soil, oil and other surface pollutants are washed straight into streams and rivers. Sudden increases in flow causes scouring of riverbanks and damage to habitats.

Artificial surfaces also absorb more solar heat than vegetation, leading to increased temperatures and urban 'heat islands', and absorb less noise, dust and dirt, creating a noisier and dirtier environment.

2. Problems caused by parking

Using front gardens for parking is dangerous for pedestrians, especially children, as cars drive and reverse across pavements, overhang them when parked and reduce visibility.

Crossovers (kerb drops) make pavements uneven and difficult to walk on, particularly for the elderly and people with buggies. They also reduce the amount of parking space on the road, leading to more pressure for parking, tensions between neighbours, yet more front gardens converted to parking (see the "Domino effect") and faster through-traffic on roads widened by lack of parked cars.

3. Problems caused by removing plants

Loss of vegetation means less carbon dioxide absorbed, contributing to global warming, and less cooling from shade and transpiration. 

Fewer trees, flowers, berries and seeds etc. support fewer birds and pollinating insects.

Street trees, important for absorbing air pollutants, can mysteriously disappear when crossovers are applied for. Grass verges are removed and replaced by hard surfaces.

4. Problems caused by changing the character of roads and streets

The aesthetic and societal effects of losing front gardens are hard to under-estimate. The disappearance of attractive green areas and traditional boundary structures (garden gates, walls, hedges, fences etc.) diminish the character and aesthetic appeal of the neighbourhood.

By eliminating gardening, an important means of contact between neighbours disappears.

The unappealing, uninviting environment leads to alienated neighbourhoods and reduced property values. While an individual property with its own parking may initially command a higher price, when most of the properties in the road have lost their gardens to parking, property values in the entire road go down.

 

5. Problems caused by materials

Mining, quarrying and dredging for stone, gravel and sand all cause environmental damage.

There are also the environmental impacts of manufacturing bricks and of transporting hard surfacing materials long distances. Some stone is imported from countries as far away as India and China, as this landscape supplier's advertisement for sandstone shows.