SuDS – its inevitable evolution

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SuDS – its inevitable evolution: This article looks at SuDS direction of travel. Teeth sharpening stuff and it will bite and bite hard, because it must.

SuDS direction of travel

Whilst many in the construction industry focus on return on capital, the market they seek customers from is conducting completely different calculations. The market is interested in bio-diversity, carbon, climate change, contaminants, drought, ecology, environment, flood, plastics, pollutants et al. Money associated to these concerns used to be termed the ‘Green Pound’, stereotyped around middle aged, woolly jumpered tree huggers. Not now. The ‘Green Pound’ is now just the pound in your pocket, nature has gone mainstream. We are becoming a nation of environmentally aware conscious consumers driven by the younger classes who have awoken to the damaging cumulative effect of years of poor government and planning policy

SuDS - its inevitable evolution

SuDS – its inevitable evolution

The world that construction sits in is undergoing a seismic shift. And drainage is one issue at the heart of this.

Flooding is bad for us – welcome to the blame culture

Flooding might make spectacular TV but it is a disaster for people affected. When you attend a flood site and see the aftermath, it’s not great viewing at all. Homeowners with front gardens piled up with their carpets, cupboards, kitchens, sofas, TVs – not fun at all. Worse still is that more and more houses are being affected by flooding.

Then there is the less obvious affect of flooding, that’s to be found in the sewage treatment plants of water companies. In an extreme rainfall event, flash floods can soon overrun a treatment plant and the water company has a straight choice – either to block the flow of water coming in or open the flow for water and sewage to move out downstream. Blocking the incoming flow results in foul and stormwater backing up and homeowners toilets filling with raw sewage and so it is always the downstream option that wins out. However, the COVID lockdown resulted in many people turning to rivers to swim in and then they discovered that there were some real nasties floating around.

Flooded houses and businesses, raw sewage floating in our rivers: someone has to be blamed. In short order the blame will normally fall on the Environment Agency, the Local Authority or the water company. They will in turn blame the institution that has no voice, nature who after all is where climate change comes from. But even that argument is unravelling fast, as greater focus looks at failed drainage designs that allow for mass storm water run-offs from the built environment.

Drought is even worse for us

If you had a choice of too much water or no water, what would you choose?

Whilst the UK has a surplus of water compared to demand, demand is growing in line with population growth and the UK will soon run a water deficit. Combine that with an extreme drought event and then we will be in a proper mess. Some of our streams and rivers, gone. Their eco-system destroyed. Water plants, gone. Water insects, gone. Fish, gone. Birds, gone. All gone and maybe never to recover.

SuDS to the rescue – helping deal with drought and flood

SuDS is about allowing rain to fall pretty much as it always has on the land. The rain infiltrates and percolates its merry way to aquifers and water courses that are vital to sustain our eco-systems. Mankind, however, has had different ideas. Through drainage design we became used to capturing all that rain into one place, stick it in a big pipe, chuck it into a sewer or watercourse and then wish it “bon voyage” as it travels ultimately out to sea and is lost forever.

SuDS drainage looks for ‘at source’ solutions, allowing storm water more time to find its way to aquifers and water courses that it has supported for millennia, helping prevent run-off and flooding. It naturally recharges aquifers and water courses, supporting drought resilience of eco-systems.

Construction versus the Great & the Good

The big guns are now ganging up to force climate and nature into the construction industry. It’s no longer the well-known names banging the environmental drum: Attenborough, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Greta and Prince Charles have now been joined by the United Nations, International Governments, UKGov, Devolved Assemblies, Local Authorities and the uber-wealthy, such as Bill Gates. They all say enough is enough. Protecting the natural world and seeing ourselves as part of it is now mainstream politics and it’s looking for action and change, root and branch. Drainage means water and water means sustainable environments.

SuDS – will bite soon

The built environment has an unfortunate track record. It has too often ignored natures claims and allowed profit to dominate. It won’t be long before the environmental impact of drainage design for any development will be measured by a new yardstick. This will be for any developer to conclusively prove ecological sustainability for drainage or face automatic planning refusal. If that happens then SuDS will have made a huge impact and the sooner it does so, the better.

About our SuDS 2021 campaign

This takes the form of a series of emails, setting out how we see the market positioning of SuDS, its future, its efficacy, how we use it to improve economic value of construction sites and consumer behavioural dynamics that it can harness to change its future.

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Jacobsen mowers integral to Bay Hill

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Jacobsen mowers integral to Bay Hill: Every March, the world’s leading golfers gather in Florida for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and they compete on a course prepared with Jacobsen mowers.

Bay Hill Golf Club and Lodge’s Director of Grounds, Chris Flynn, has been at the club since September 2014 and in that time has seen Matt Every, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, and most recently Tyler Hatton triumph.

Jacobsen mowers integral to Bay Hill

Jacobsen mowers integral to Bay Hill

But regardless of who comes out on top, the third-generation superintendent knows that everyone in the field expects perfection, and he gives it to them using Jacobsen.

“Bay Hill has had such a longstanding and successful relationship with Jacobsen, and Mr. Palmer personally had a long relationship with Jacobsen, and any property he was affiliated with carried the Jacobsen name with it.

“The impact of Jacobsen on what we do here year-round and especially for tournament time is beyond critical.

“If Jacobsen makes it, then it’s probably here. 22inch walk mowers, 26inch walk mowers, the triplexes, I’m a fan of the GP400s, fairway mowers, AR3, AR5, AR7s – so yeah, I can’t really think of anything that Jacobsen makes that we don’t have here and use on a daily basis.

“The Arnold Palmer Invitational is certainly one of the most tenured tournaments on the PGA Tour, and expectations are perfection. For us, it’s quite the process to do the build and set-up, it’s about a two and a half month process, and it takes about that same amount of time to break that down

“It requires additional support and equipment support, and the role Jacobsen plays in that is huge. Our mowing schedule ramps up. Mowing in the mornings and then mowing again in the afternoons, and that’s pretty much everything – tees, fairways, approaches, and greens.

“Obviously the equipment we need to rely on but then there’s the service side and having the support that we need with the equipment we have special tournament support. Having boots on the ground to help us and Jacobsen has always done an outstanding job in being there for us.

“The reliability has always been there, the reel technology is second to none, ease of maintenance and diagnosing issues when there are problems to making repairs to the ultimate use of the equipment and the quality of cut, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the assistance of Jacobsen.”

The latest edition of the tournament will be the 43rd played at Bay Hill since 1979, when it began life as the Bay Hill Citrus Classic. One hundred and twenty golfers will have the opportunity to receive the red cardigan sweater given to the winner in memory of Arnold Palmer, with twelve of the world’s top twenty-five ranked golfers among them.

For more information about the machines used at Bay Hill, visit www.jacobsen.com.

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Spring into the first cut with Countax

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Spring into the first cut with Countax: As soon as the ambient soil temperature rises in spring our British lawns put on a growth spurt and it is time for the first cut. Which could mean considering a new mower or, if you have a large grass area or even a paddock, a ride-on garden tractor.

Making the sizeable investment in one needs careful consideration. Will your choice of ride-on be used only for mowing? Or could it be an all-year-round workhorse, performing a wide variety of garden tasks from spring through to winter? To make the most of your investment it is worth looking at a Countax garden tractor to fit the bill in all respects.

Spring into the first cut with Countax

Spring into the first cut with Countax

Firstly, it is designed for the British garden and built in Britain for the vagaries of our weather. Secondly, it will make gardening life a whole lot easier. The first spring mow needs to be at a high height, gradually lowering the cutting deck as the season progresses. This is easily done with the Countax deck height setting ranging from 101mm/4” down to 12mm/1/2”. There is a choice of cut and collect, mulching using an optional mulching kit or a High Grass Mulching deck for rougher areas. For those of you who like a striped lawn, you cannot better the Countax Powered Grass Collector (PGC) and roller system, powered by the tractor’s Power Take-Off (PTO). Which brings us to the PGC+, the accessory that transforms a Countax C or B Series into that multi-use, year-round workhorse.

The PGC+ is a cassette system that allows you to quickly and easily switch accessories. It means you only need one machine to maintain the lawn, paddock, drive, path and other garden areas. The Grass Sweeper cassette comes as standard and clicks into place with brushes that rotate at over 1100rpm to sweep grass clippings, fallen leaves and other debris into the hopper, even when the grass is wet.

Spring is also a good time to scarify the lawn to rid it of winter accumulated moss and thatch and that is simply done by switching to the easy-to-insert Scarifier cassette. Which means you don’t need to spend money on a separate scarifier.

So, all-round a Countax will work for you through the seasons. Using the PTO you can also drive other accessories such as a powered broadcast spreader, which is ideal for spreading salt and grit on paths and drives to keep them ice-free. Choose a B Series Countax and you have the benefit of the unique 4TRAC four-wheel-drive system giving you a ‘go anywhere, mow anywhere’ garden tractor capable of tackling slopes, mud and rough ground. It also makes the perfect partner for a snowblade to clear your way in the depths of winter. Find out more by contacting Countax on 01844 278800 or visit www.countax.co.uk/find-a-dealer/ to find your local dealer.

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Phil Anderton reveals golf participation levels

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Phil Anderton reveals golf participation levels: While golf is experiencing a boom at the moment, based on the game’s ability to be played within Covid restrictions, participation levels are still below where they were 20 years ago.

That fact was revealed by Phil Anderton, the R&A’s Chief Development Officer, speaking at the virtual Golf BIC conference.

Phil Anderton reveals golf participation levels

Phil Anderton reveals golf participation levels

Phil has carried out research since he took up his role at the R&A which uncovered the hurdles golf has to overcome to increase playing numbers and become more popular.

“The most used word in relation to golf when the general public were asked was ‘boring’,” he revealed.

“When asked if ‘Golf was for people like me’, 8% of those polled agreed, a figure which is far lower than for tennis or cycling. In polling golf was beaten by tennis and cycling in all counts apart from ‘Good for the Environment’.”

The research also revealed that 37% perceived the game to be “exclusive”; 24% that “equipment was expensive”; 48% that the “game was too expensive” and 37% that “it takes too long”. The better news was that 54% of lapsed golfers wanted to return to the game.

He also revealed that while the R&A regularly got 50,000 social media clicks when the announcement that Modest Management, One Direction’s Niall Horan’s company, would be working with the R&A there were over two million clicks.

Having identified the issues the game is dealing with the R&A have introduced a series if initiatives aimed at making the game more accessible and changing the perception that golf is only for a small section of the population.

Among these is the purchase of Lethamhill, in Glasgow, which will be developed by the R&A to become a golfing experience venue for the whole family, with a view of returning golf to its roots as a community game.

“We are also encouraging different formats of the game, including Golf Sixes which allows children to play golf in a game which takes no more than an hour.”

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Praxys impresses at the Royal Birkdale

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Praxys impresses at the Royal Birkdale: Chris Whittle, Course Manager at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, claims that Praxys, ICL’s high performance, highly concentrated systemic selective herbicide, plays an integral role in his weed control programme.

Royal Birkdale hardly needs any introduction – it is after all one of the finest courses in England and has held more Championship and International events since World War 2 than any other course in the world including Open Championships, Ryder Cups, Women’s British Opens, Senior Opens, Amateur Championships, Walker Cups and Curtis Cups.

Praxys impresses at the Royal Birkdale

Praxys impresses at the Royal Birkdale

Chris has overseen many of these prestigious events having been at the club for an impressive 26 years. He currently oversees a team of ten members of staff who all work hard to maintain this truly prestigious course.

When it comes to weed control, Chris has reported highly encouraging results from using ICL’s Praxys for the past five years, after it was initially recommended to him from ICL distributor Aitkens.

Praxys, renowned for killing the toughest of weeds, possesses a number of benefits. Featuring systemic uptake right down to the roots with no regrowth, this fast-acting weedkiller allows rapid entry and is rainfast within just one hour. It also has the lowest dosage rates and water volume of any selective herbicide available.

It combines the three most powerful active ingredients on the market, Florasulam, Fluroxypyr and Clopyralid, to wipe out weeds on golf courses, sports and amenity turf and lawns in one application.

Praxys was developed to target common weeds like daisy and dandelion and it completely kills more problematic ones such as Self-heal, Ribwort Plantain and Spear Thistle

The extremely low dose rate, from one litre per hectare, is flexible depending on the weed spectrum to be controlled. Low dose means less packaging and less waste and because only one application is required, it also makes Praxys one of the most cost-effective options available.

Chris usually applies Praxys in June each year and believes it is an essential product in his weed management programme.

“We predominately apply Praxys to our tees and fairways and it has been really impressive,” he said. “We’ll never totally eradicate difficult weeds, because new weeds keep coming through each year. However, Praxys works well in our integrated approach towards managing them and with its low water volume coupled with its low impact on the environment it makes for a great product for us to use”

“After applying Praxys, you can see initial dieback of the weeds within days and then you notice further results a couple of weeks later on the more troublesome ones such as greater plantains.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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