Soakaway for driveway in heavy clay soil

[Fevvahz]

I'm looking at re laying my driveway, which is currently constructed of non porous materials and which runs into local drainage. I'm trying to come up with a solution regarding the rainwater run off according to building regulations and I hope you could offer some advice.

The area is heavy clay soil down to at least 2 ft, I'm pretty confident (although I'll have to look myself if I cant find an alternative) after talking to neighbours that the clay goes a way further down still. So I've put the option of a permeable surface to one side for the moment.

I'm more than happy to construct a soakaway, however it seems that I have no room. I have a 7 meter long front garden (from the house to the boundary) and then there's 2 meters of path next to the road. Therefore I'm unable to build a soakaway as I'd be within 6m of the road, and 5m of the house.

It seems I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place regarding regulations, which I can completely understand the need for.

Any suggestions?

 

[xdave]

Bury a single plastic milk crate wrapped in a membrane somewhere in your garden. Run a linear or normal drain off a nice new impermeable drive to this small soakaway, and run the overflow from the soakaway to your existing surface water drains. Voila - you have fully satisfied the planning requirements to make a provision for surface water runoff. You are allowed to take the excess to a surface/storm water drain.

This is what I will be doing when I replace my drive later in the year, and my local planning dept admitted that my suggestion above is perfectly acceptable.

The reasoning behind the rules was always to limit the effect of excess surface water flooding storm drains and causing localised flooding. By running a drive to a rain garden or soakaway it will still put about the same amount of water into the storm drains, but there will be a delay before it gets there. That helps to stagger the water volume. However the rules don't state how big that soakaway has to be. If your LA tries to challenge you then ask them what you are supposed to do with the runoff from your water-logged lawn.

 

[Fevvahz]

xdave - spot on thanks - thats the sort of approach I was going to go for nothing too big of an excavation, just enough of a buffer.