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The Cost of Unforeseen Drainage Problems

There is a lot at stake if you don’t have an adequate SuDS Assessment to help you make the best decisions for your design…
Our SuDS Assessment ensures your development demonstrates a compliant, sustainable approach to drainage, helping you achieve approval quickly and avoid costly redesigns later in the process.
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SuDS Consultants Committed to Getting Your Site Approved and Built

Your SuDS Consultant is part of Lustre’s multidisciplinary team of Chartered Environmental and Civil Engineers, combining practical drainage experience with compliance knowledge of planning and regulatory requirements.

Each SuDS design is tailored to site-specific ground conditions, runoff rates, and development layouts  ensuring technical accuracy, cost efficiency, and long-term performance.

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Meet Your Consultant

Sustainable Drainage System (SuDs)

Our SuDS specialists will guide you through every stage of the process  from initial assessment to detailed drainage design so you can get your site approved and built.

They are ready to get started.

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What is a SuDS Design?

A Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) Design sets out how surface water will be captured, stored, treated, and discharged across your development.
It’s the technical design phase following a Drainage Strategy, providing the detail needed for regulator approval and construction.

SuDS features are designed to mimic natural drainage, reduce flooding, and improve water quality. These may include soakaways, swales, infiltration trenches, permeable paving, attenuation tanks, ponds, or green roofs each selected and sized to suit your site conditions.

We design SuDS in accordance with CIRIA C753, BRE365, and local LLFA policy.
Our designs are supported by infiltration testing, hydraulic modelling, and flow control calculations to ensure full compliance and long-term functionality.

Developed to build on your Drainage Strategy, providing the detailed engineering and design information required for approval and construction.

Lustre Consulting

Get Your Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) Report

1

Get Proposal

Answer a few questions, so together we can come up with a plan that fits your timescales and budget.

2

SuDS Design

We work through the complex process of evaluating and assessing the drainage potential of the site.

3

Receive Report

We deliver a detailed SuDS Design Report and drawings ready for submission to your Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) or inclusion in your discharge of conditions application.

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Why do I need a SuDS Design?

A SuDS Design is typically required when:

  • Your Drainage Strategy identifies the need for sustainable surface water management

  • The Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) requests detailed SuDS design as part of planning or discharge of conditions

  • You’re preparing for technical approval or construction tendering

Our SuDS designs help you:

  • Secure regulator approval efficiently

  • Reduce flood and pollution risks

  • Demonstrate sustainability and biodiversity gains

  • Deliver cost-effective, maintainable solutions that add value to your site

By addressing SuDS early, we help you avoid costly design changes, achieve smoother planning outcomes, and deliver developments that perform safely and sustainably.

How We Carry Out a SuDS Design

  • Initial site review & data gathering: We assess site plans, topography, soil conditions, existing drainage assets and hydrology. This forms the baseline for infiltration potential, storage requirement and surface-water behaviour.

  • Infiltration testing & modelling: We undertake infiltration tests (e.g., to BRE 365 standard) and hydraulic modelling (1D/2D) to determine runoff, attenuation volume and feasible SuDS features.

  • Layout & SuDS feature design: Based on the data, we design SuDS options (soakaways, swales, permeable paving, tanks, ponds etc) tailored to your site, including storage sizing, flow control and connection strategy.

  • Regulator-ready SuDS Report & drawings: We package the design into a clearly presented report and drawings that meet Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) and Environment Agency expectations, referencing CIRIA C753 and national SuDS standards.

  • Integration & hand-over support: We ensure the SuDS design aligns with your drainage strategy, site layout, landscape and geotechnical inputs and support you through conditions of planning and eventual construction hand-over.

Frequently asked questions about Phase 1 Desk Studies

What is a SuDS Design?

A SuDS Design is the technical engineering and layout of sustainable drainage systems for your site — following the strategic drainage approach. It details how surface water will be captured, stored, treated and discharged in a sustainable, regulator-approved way.

Do I always need a SuDS Design?

Not always. If your site is small, on low risk land and has simple drainage, a Drainage Strategy may suffice. However, where a Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) or planning condition requires detailed SuDS input, then a full SuDS Design becomes essential.

What standards do SuDS Designs follow?

Our SuDS Designs reference recognised standards such as the National Standards for Sustainable Drainage Systems, and are aligned with CIRIA C753, BRE 365 (for infiltration), NPPF and LLFA local policies.

How long does a SuDS Design take?

Times vary according to site size, complexity and site-specific testing requirements. Simple sites may be completed in a few weeks; more complex schemes, especially requiring infiltration or hydraulic modelling, may take longer.

How does SuDS relate to my Drainage Strategy?

The Drainage Strategy defines how surface water will be managed overall (flows, location, discharge), while the SuDS Design takes that strategy and provides the detailed engineering, layout, storage and feature sizing required for approval and construction.

Sites Successfully Approved and Built

Surface Water Discharge Permit

Surface Water Discharge Permit

An equipment testing facility required environmental services to support an application for an Environmental Permit for the discharge of cooling water from their test facility building into a nearby river. Following the completion of a Conservation Risk Assessment, it was determined that a Bespoke Environmental Permit Application would need to be submitted as the river […]

An equipment testing facility required environmental services...

Waste Transfer Station

Waste Transfer Station

A Commercial and Industrial Waste Transfer Station required environmental services to support an application for a bespoke Environmental Permit for a commercial and industrial waste transfer station to accept 75,000 tonnes per annum of commercial and industrial waste including 5,000 tonnes of asbestos bearing waste. Lustre Consulting were commissioned to produce an application stage Site Condition […]

A Commercial and Industrial Waste Transfer Station required...

Former Petrol Filling Station, Kent

Former Petrol Filling Station, Kent

A former petrol filling station and vehicle servicing garage site in Kent is in the process of being redeveloped into a residential use. Lustre Consulting was initially appointed to carry out a Phase 1 Desk Study in support of a planning application. This was followed by a Phase 2 Site Investigation including a Geotechnical Investigation. […]

A former petrol filling station and vehicle servicing garage...

Former War Time Radio Transmitter Site

Former War Time Radio Transmitter Site

The client, who is a small developer, required a Phase 1 Desk Study to firstly support a planning application, and then a Phase 2 Site Investigation to discharge planning conditions. The proposed development comprised clearance of the site and construction of five luxury dwellings with large private gardens. The Phase 1 Desk Study identified several […]

The client, who is a small developer, required a Phase 1 Desk...

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