The UK Government has officially released the long-awaited National Standards for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), following years of advocacy from CIWEM and other stakeholders. This marks a major step toward improved surface water management across England – supporting climate resilience, reducing flood risk, and enhancing environmental outcomes. Key Objectives of the New Standards: Improved integration…
The Environment Agency is releasing new national data on flood and coastal erosion risks, including projections that account for climate change. This phased rollout provides updated, more detailed information to help individuals, businesses, and planners make informed decisions. What’s Been Published 28 January 2025: New National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) data, covering risks from rivers,…
McCloy Consulting are delighted to be represented on the steering group for the development of new Guidance for Blue & Green Roofs. The first project steering group meeting was held at the end of March and was fully online. With the ongoing pressure and impacts from climate change blue and green roofs will become an…
In these unprecedented times McCloy Consulting took proactive action before the official lockdown for all staff to be work remotely to ensure we look after our people, our clients, and the communities in which we live and work in. Our branch offices are closed to the public. However, we are open for business and operating…
As current Chair of Engineers Ireland Northern Region, Anthony has the privilege of being part of the Sir Bernard Crossland Lecture series. This years lecture will no doubt be very topical given the number of climate emergencies that have been declared and the awakening of consciousness to the impact that we are having on our…
New guidelines for the adoption of drainage assets including a wide range of SuDS components will provide clear, comprehensive guidance to facilitate the transfer of ownership and the maintenance responsibility of new sewerage assets. This will be a major overhaul of Sewers for Adoption Ed7. The revised document is due to be published on Effect…
McCloy Consulting have opened our new office in Clooney Terrace, Derry; led by Philip Duffy, who joined our team earlier this year. The new office is an another step in our continuing growth as an industry leader providing specialist services in Flood risk, water management and contaminated land. Philip who leads up the office…
McCloy Consulting are delighted to have recently been appointed to a multi-supplier framework led by the Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) and the Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment to provide Specialist Hydrogeological and Hydrological services. We were ranked within the Top 3-ranked Hydrogeologists awarded to the Framework providing specialist services to include: Hydrogeological…
The Environment Agency has published an update to their Groundwater Source Protection Zone Guidance. The updated guidance webpage can be found here and describes why source protection zones are important to protect groundwater resources, and gives a general overview of how SPZs are defined. A ‘Manual for the production of Groundwater Source Protections Zones’ has…
The importance of trees as part of Sustainable Drainage Systems is becoming more widely understood and their delivery under the 4 pillars of SuDS – Quantity, Quality, Amenity and Biodiversity. Many SuDS schemes now include tree pits produced by companies like BlueGreen Urban producing off the shelf systems. Aside from Tree pits, trees can also…
The Environment Agency has published an update to the ‘Model Procedures for the Management of Land Contamination’ (CLR11). The CLR11 document has long been the principal guidance for assessing the risks of contaminated land. Despite being archived in 2016, CLR11 is still the framework for which regulatory bodies (EA, NIEA, SEPA) and Local Authorities require…
McCloy Consulting formed part of the consortium which were awarded the UKWIR Research Project that will explore opportunities for surface water removal from our overloaded sewer networks, many of which are currently at or beyond their intended capacity. The tender consortium was led by Stantec and also supported by CIRIA. The study will consider the…
Hull City Council and Yorkshire Water recently agreed on official binding rules regarding sustainable draining requirements. The joint initiative between a WaSC and a Local Authority – a UK first – aims to ease pressure on the city’s drainage network. Developers of new building schemes in Hull will have to reduce existing surface water run-off…
McCloy Consulting are delighted to have been Flood Risk consultants on the £400m masterplan to transform Belfast’s former Sirocco Works site. The application has been recommended for approval by Belfast City Council. The development will make the River Lagan a ‘point of connection’ for the city, with the exciting redevelopment effort of the 16-acre site…
Some of the ‘most iconic and remote’ rivers and lakes in Britain have been the subject of research led by Dr Christian Dunn of Bangor University and Friends of the Earth, assessing microplastic pollution. The study investigated ten sites and found microplastics in all of them. “It’s now clear that microplastics should be considered a…
McCloy Consulting engineers Chris Irwin and Michael Rea are attending the British Hydrological Society 2019 conference, hosted by Lancaster University, with the theme “Natural Flood Management – Does it work?”. Our team presented a poster outlining research and work undertaken by McCloy to model the predicted effect of NFM measures in Innovyze ICM against baseline…
EA remove objection to development within Groundwater Source Protection Zone (SPZ1) A planning application for residential development at the above site received an initial objection from the Environment Agency (EA) due to the following issues: The site is located within a Groundwater Source Protection Zone (SPZ1) Proposals include the construction of a large basement below…
Mid Ulster District Council has now published its Local Development Plan 2030 – Draft Plan Strategy. Public consultation on the draft plan commences on 22nd February 2019 and runs for a period of 8 weeks, closing on 19th April 2019. The council states that the purpose of the Mid Ulster District Council Local Development Plan, comprising…
As co-organisers McCloy Consulting are delighted to announce the 2019 SuDSsource conference which is being held in Sheffield on the 15th May. The conference will consider SuDS innovation in the UK through the prism of design guidance, planning and evaluation. For those interested in attending the conference further details are outlined below. The Keynote speaker: Phil Chatfield – the ‘Architect…
PRIVATE WATER ABSTRACTION REGULATIONS AND LICENCING IN IRELAND The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have launched a register of water abstractions, to comply with EU regulations. Who is required to register? People with a private water supply who abstract more than 25 cubic meters (25,000 litres) per day. This is for ‘large’ users only – abstractions…
Anthony McCloy and Robert Bray Associates will present an evening technical talk on Developing SuDS guidance to meet policy and legislation – an integrated approach to design and evaluation as part of an Engineers Ireland series of evening talks, on 7 November 2018 in Belfast. Click here for details!
Interested in working for McCloy Consulting? We are currently seeking applications for engineers at a variety of levels to join our team in Mossley Mill. Interested in applying or learning more about these roles? Click here
Credit: Henning Larsen (Feb 2018) Waterside & Graham House in Belfast We are delighted to have been Flood Risk consultants for two successful planning applications for landmark commercial developments at Belfast Waterside and Graham House. The applications were granted permission in mid-August 2018. As trusted experts in our field we were awarded the Flood…
On Tuesday 17 July 2018, the government released their Surface Water Management Action Plan which sets out the steps the government is taking to strengthen surface water management by improving understanding of the risks and making sure those responsible can manage them effectively. The key themes of the plan are: improving risk assessment and communication;…
Sewers for Adoption 8th Edition (SfA 8th Ed) provides a strong indication that Water and Sewerage Companies (WaSCs) across England are in the process of considering a range of vegetated and hard landscape SuDS techniques for adoption, which considerably extend on the existing offering of oversized pipes and tanks. Welsh Government have taken a further…
The past few months have been a time of great success here at McCloy Consulting. For a number of years Anthony has been an advocate in the uptake and delivery of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). There is a growing appreciation that SuDS delivers much more that flood management and if designed correctly can provide pleasurable…
We are delighted that Bridget Joyce Square, Australia Road SUDS Scheme won the ICE London Award for Community Impact this week. Working together with London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Robert Bray Associates, contractors FM Conways and the local community, we are thrilled to have contributed to this community led project. Click here to see Anthony talk about this…
We are glad to hear this week that the House of Lords have pushed through an amendment to the Housing & Planning Bill which promotes the use of SuDS for sustainable drainage. If the amendment stays in the Housing & Planning Bill when it goes back to the Commons, it means the million houses the…
The team at McCloy Consulting are looking forward to the Sustainable Ireland Awards being held in Belfast next week as we have been shortlisted for the Environmental Initiative award for our contribution to the already award winning Bridget Joyce Square, Australia Road, London- SuDS Scheme. Completed in Novermber 2015, this SuDS Scheme focused on urban regeneration integrated with sustainable drainage, transforming…
Due to expanding workload we are seeking applications to fill the role of Project Engineer for immediate commencement. The role would suit an existing project engineer or an experienced graduate engineer with experience in flood risk and the water engineering sector seeking to advance their career. Click on our careers tab to find out more.
Due to an expanding workload we are currently recruiting for a Hydraulic Modeller to join our team. The role will offer the opportunity to work within a close knit team environment working within our wastewater and/or flood team. Click on our careers tab to find out more.
Anthony sheds some light on what the challenges are for making SuDS ‘the norm’ in terms of providing drainage for new or redevelopment schemes in the UK. The informative blog can be read here. To find out more about SuDS, click here.
Due to an expanding workload we are currently hiring for a number of junior and senior positions. Click on our careers tab to find out more.
The London Sustainable Drainage Action Plan (LSDAP) aims to steadily introduce more sustainable drainage measures when buildings and land are maintained, repaired and improved. The Action Plan sets out a wide range of activities to be undertaken over a period of 25 years. The draft LSDAP is out for consultation. For more information click here.…
The Australia Road Regeneration Scheme officially launches on Monday. After a lot of effort from London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (the client), the designers – McCloy Consulting and Robert Bray Associates, and the contractor (Conways) the scheme was successfully implemented in September of this year. There were a lot of interesting experiences and lessons…
The UK’s most comprehensive SuDS guidance is released to support uptake, manage floods and create better places and spaces. As the UK moves into winter, potentially a time of greater flood risk as seen during the 2013-2014 winter, CIRIA has launched the most comprehensive industry SuDS manual available in the UK. This guidance focuses on…
The Practice Guidance for the (English) Non-Statutory Technical Standards is now available to assist Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs), developers and consultants in the inclusion of sustainable drainage within development proposals and considerations for planning applications. The Practice Guidance is supported and produced by LASOO, The Local Authority SuDS Officer Organisation. You can download a…
Anthony has been invited to host a seminar at Flood Expo entitled ‘Surface Water Flooding – Integrated Catchment Approach to Resolution’. The seminar will run 2.45 -3.15pm on Wednesday 15th October within the Floodtech Seminar Hall. The seminar will be CPD certified and numbers may be limited so arrive early to avoid disappointment.
We are looking forward to meeting clients and colleagues alike at the Flood Expo in ExCeL, London on 14th and 15th October 2015. Feel free to call at our stand F408 over the course of what promised to be an informative two day event to meet our staff and find out more about our expert modelling…
The Department of the Environment has on 28 September 2015 published the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland, that will ultimately replace all individual planning policy statements (including PPS15 Planning and Flood Risk). The SPPS sections relating to flood risk are broadly similar in policy direction to PPS15…there will now be a transitional period…
From September 2015 the Environment Agency will be making LIDAR data accessible to all users free of charge, even for commercial use. Two LIDAR datasets will be released under the Open Government Licence and made accessible through Datashare. Tiled LIDAR data: This dataset consists of historic LIDAR data which has been gathered since 1998. For…
With the SuDS industry in the UK still in a state of transition due to recent changes in legislation introduced in April 2015; Anthony sheds some light on what the changes actually mean for the rest of us from the experiences that McCloy Consulting are gathering through collaborative working with Local Authorities throughout England. The…
Anthony has written a paper entitled “A relook at how we attenuate runoff for Brownfield and retrofit sites”, which has been accepted for oral presentation at the SUDSnet 2015 International Conference at the Techno-Centre in Coventry on the 3rd & 4th September 2015. It promises to be an informative event which will showcase latest academic…
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has issued revised regulatory fees and charges schemes for 2015/2016. The Processing Discharge Consent Applications and the Regulation of Discharges under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 and the Processing Licence Applications under the Water Abstraction and Impounment (Licensing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 have both been updated. To view other regulatory…
On 15 April Lead Local Flood Authority will become a statutory consultee and will be required to provide technical assessments of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) on major developments (10+properties). In considering planning applications, local planning authorities (LPAs) will be required to consult with the Lead Local Flood Authority on the management of surface water. In…
Susdrain have published a new infographic on their website entitled “Going with the flow: Managing rainfall with Sustainable Drainage Systems”. It details some of the key objectives and outcomes from a sustainable drainage approach whilst drawing upon a few interesting examples. To view the infographic follow this link: http://www.susdrain.org/files/resources/ciria_guidance/susdrain_going_with_the_flow_infographic.pdf. To learn more about SuDS, click here.
For the second year in a row, we visited St. Mary’s College, Derry as part of Engineer’s week. This event was open to pupils from all local secondary schools and aim was to promote STEM careers, engineering and related career pathways (especially to girls). Nicola and Roisin are pictured to the left bestowing some of…
Anthony has developed a second factsheet for industry use, which has undergone peer review and was published on the Susdrain website last week. It is entitled ‘Designing attenuation storage for redevelopment sites’ and focuses on the improved benefits which could be delivered from redevelopment of previously developed land and retrofit schemes through a change in…
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Rivers Agency have opened consultation on draft Flood Risk Management Plans, which will identify the flood risks in significant flood risk areas in Northern Ireland as well as outlining mitigation measures. The consultation ends in July which provides plenty of time to formulate a response. For more information, visit…
We are pleased to announce the launch of our new newsletter. We are proposing a quarterly newsletter to keep clients informed on latest industry developments across the UK and Ireland, in addition to developments at McCloy Consulting. If you have not received it, but would like to, join the mailing list then please contact us.
The 2014 National Irish Hydrology Conference is being held on 11th November 2014. The theme of the conference is Integrated Water Management in Ireland – Governance Politics and Economics. Kyle Somerville from McCloy Consulting will present a poster which explains new thinking on attenuation of surface runoff from previously developed sites.
The Defra and DCLG SuDS consultation is now closed. The consultation indicated a significant departure from previous proposals and if progressed will have implications for both LA’s, Developers and their consultants. It will be interesting to see what the outcomes of the consultation are, with timeframes for implementation indicated as Spring 2015. McCloy Consulting is…
The Department of the Environment has published a Revised Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 15 “Planning and Flood Risk”. The PPS aims to prevent future development that may be at risk from flooding or that may increase the risk of flooding elsewhere. Download the document at http://www.planningni.gov.uk/index/policy/policy_publications/planning_statements/pdf_-_pps_15_final_document.pdf
We would like to welcome two new members of staff to our team this summer, Roisin Malone as our new Engineering Technician and the imminent return of Chris Irwin as Graduate Engineer in August. We would also like to wish one of our Engineers Paul Singleton the best of luck as he is taking a…
The 2014 National SuDSsource Conference is running from 24-25th June in Northampton for local authorities and design professionals. Our Managing Director Anthony McCloy will be speaking on day two with a presentation on Assessing Volume and Flows. The conference will review the latest guidance, provide technical briefings and explain practical developments that influence the design,…
The first generation of flood mapping for Northern Ireland, known as the Strategic Flood Map (NI) Rivers & Sea, has been updated to include detailed flood mapping in 69 Significant Flood Risk Areas and has been rebranded Flood Maps (NI). In comparison with the strategic flood maps the accuracy illustrated in the detailed mapping is…
Anthony McCloy our Managing Director has recently published a fact sheet for Susdrain outlining the approaches to assessing attenuation storage volumes for sustainable drainage systems. The fact sheet is available to download from the Susdrain website here. To learn more about SuDS, click here.
McCloy Consulting has been appointed to prepare a BREEAM flood risk assessment for the proposed Arvalee School in Omagh. The Arvalee project is a landmark as the first school to commence within the overall Lisanelly Educational Campus, and follows previous McCloy Consulting involvement in preparing flood risk assessment and Environmental Statement assessments for the previous…
Our Managing Director Anthony McCloy features in the Winter 2013 edition of Evolution Magazine with fellow CIRIA Trainer Bob Bray from Robert Bray Associates discussing the forthcoming National Standards for Sustainable Drainage and how the industry can prepare. Click here to download a copy of the magazine. To find out more about SuDS, click here.
The Department of the Environment has published a Revised Draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 15 “Planning and Flood Risk” for public consultation. The PPS aims to prevent future development that may be at risk from flooding or that may increase the risk of flooding elsewhere. Public consultation runs until 10th January 2014. Download the document…
Watch the new animation from susdrain which demonstrates how changes to the natural water cycle caused by development can be positively managed, and, how SuDS turns this challenge into an exciting opportunity contributing to better place making. McCloy Consulting provided input to this new animation celebrating the multiple benefits of SuDS including managing local flood…
McCloy Consulting are proud to be presenting the award for Biodiversty Project of the Year at this year’s Sustainable Ireland Awards on the 18th September in Belfast. The aim of the awards is to celebrate the achievements of individuals and organisations in all sectors of the industry –- waste and recycling, the environment, renewable energy,…