Freuchie Flood Action Group

Fife Council Community Services has today began the routine inspection regime at the inlet to the culvert at Freuchie Mill. In between the monthly council inspections, the local residents will be keeping an eye on the watercourse and reporting any debris found lying in and around the culvert entrance.

Another successful partnership approach between Fife Council and local residents to reduce the flooding risk.

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Vans come and go in Freuchie Mill all day long at the moment, but Wednesday morning saw a very welcome van rolling down the road. Fife Council had commissioned Euro Environmental Contracts (eec) to perform the camera inspection of the main culvert and the diversion pipe that had been in service for a very short time many years ago when the main culvert was installed.

Photo: eec Camera Van

A skilled crew from eec, working under the instruction of Fife Council Transportation Services officers, performed a first class camera inspection operation. They kindly allowed us to observe and sought our local knowledge to fill in some of the blanks in the mystery that is Freuchie Mill.

 
 
Photos: Camera van control cabin & eec workers use the camera robot

Everyone was pleasantly surprised at the integrity of the diversion pipe, a result that now opens up possibilities for extra water handling capacity through Freuchie Mill in extreme weather events. Apart from the hole in the main culvert at No19, which appears to have occurred during the site development over a decade ago, and the end of the culvert that had underwent a great deal of stress during the garden collapse in August, the remainder of the culvert pipe appeared to be in good condition.

The specialist equipment required to conduct this type of work is impressive technology: powerful spotlights, high resolution cameras, motorised chassis with plenty of torque, computerised control, etc. We did ask if the camera operator was any good on the Wii or Playstation, but is seems the skills required may be a little different!

Photo: Camera robot used at Freuchie Mill

Freuchie Flood Action Group would like to acknowledge the high quality work performed by Fife Council officers and eec. The collaboration between Fife Council and Freuchie Flood Action Group was especially welcomed on this occasion and we look forward to working together more in the future. We thank everyone involved for another milestone moment on our journey for flood protection improvements in Freuchie.

Technorati Tags: eec, Fife Council, flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Flood Action Group

We have pleasure to release the Freuchie Community Council meeting minutes for the November and December meetings.

The minutes are available below.

Minutes from Community Council meeting held on 12th November 2008

Minutes from Community Council meeting held on 10th December 2008

Thank you to the Community Council for allowing us to publish the minutes thereby keeping you informed of everything that is going on with the flooding of Freuchie!

You will need Acrobat Reader, a free download from Adobe, to be able to view the minutes.

Technorati Tags: flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Community Council, Freuchie Flood Action Group, Lumsden Memorial Hall

The Courier has picked up on our praise for the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill on page  four of today’s newspaper.

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The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill Stage 1 debate occurred yesterday in the Scottish Parliament with all party support. A video of the debate is available on the Scottish Parliament website, but be warned it last for about two hours! Likewise, a transcript of the debate is available from TheyWorkForYou.com.

The debate was opened by Richard Lochhead  MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Minister of the Environment, with an interesting statement:

“This Bill represents the most comprehensive modernisation of flood risk management in Scotland for over 40 years. It is a co-ordinated approach which will deliver flood management at a catchment scale, allowing local authorities and others to take the best possible approach to managing flooding in their area.”

A very good summary up of what is needed by way of betterment in dealing with flood risk management and prevention and protection. 

Some interesting snippets from the Scottish Government press release:

The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on September 30, 2008. It will streamline and speed up the development and implementation of flood risk management measures, introduce a more sustainable and modern approach to flood risk management and create a more joined up and co-ordinated process to flood risk management throughout Scotland.

Specific measures in the Bill include:

• A framework for coordination and cooperation between all organisations involved in flood risk management
• Assessment of flood risk and preparation of flood risk management plans
• New responsibilities for SEPA, Scottish Water and local authority functions for flood risk management
• A revised, streamlined process for flood risk management measures
• New methods to enable stakeholders and the public to contribute to managing flood risk

The first and last bullet points are of great interest to flood affected communities as it enshrines in law the involvement of all stakeholders when look at flooding issues. In the past many flood victims and affected communities have felt disenfranchised from the processes and systems that deliver flood management improvements. The community of Freuchie has already been working on the approach suggested in the Bill with the setting up of Freuchie Flood Action Group (FFAG) that cooperates closely with Freuchie Community Council. Additionally, we are currently exploring ways to improve communications and relationships with Fife Council in the spirit of the Bill. FFAG also has many specialist advisors onboard to provide information and advice related to the flooding of Freuchie and flood prevention and protection. Least we forget, even top politicians have been engaged so that our experience can be fed back to government; we’re looking forward to Mike Russell MSP, Minister for the Environment, coming to see us.

Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Convenor of the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, pointed out that there appeared to be a culture of hard solutions amongst existing professionals. The new Bill makes it a requirements that natural sustainable flood management techniques are considered for all flood alleviation schemes. However, local authorities are still able to pass over natural sustainable solutions in favour of hard engineer where it is shown to be appropriate. Freuchie appears to be a good case for a hybrid approach, utilising the best of the natural sustainable approach and hard engineering to protect the community.

Liam McArthur MSP, reflected on evidence given by Jim Moodie to the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee on the 10th December 2008:

“Jim Moodie from Fife Council, who made quite an impression on the committee, as I recall, referring to the lack of interim arrangements suggested that this was quote,

‘A concern because there is nothing in the Bill to say that councils have to do anything until the management plans are in place.’

I accept that it would be a foolish, if not to say a short lived council administration that would sit on its hands and do nothing in the face of a demonstrable flood risk in its area. Never the less, I hope the Minister will accept the need to clarify the position regarding interim arrangements.”

Credit should be given to Mr Moodie for identifying and highlighting potential issues with the Bill at a stage when the deficiency can be corrected.

He went on to touch upon funding, returning again to quote from Mr Moodie’s evidence,

“The lack of a clear funding mechanism will mean that many schemes will not be delivered at all because funding will be allocated to what councils consider to be other priorities. He added, rather courageously perhaps, that our budgets are defined by accountants and asset management people who are not directly affected by flood prevention measures or functions. Mr Moodie doubtless had his work cut out in making his peace with colleagues once back across the bridge that afternoon, but his candor did suggest that assurances from Ministers about flood funding may still fall upon deaf ears.”

Bravo to Mr Moodie for fighting the flood funding corner. It is vital to ensure funds for flooding don’t end up being spent on other more populist priorities by local authorities. There looks to be a case for the accountants and asset managers to be independently briefed on flooding and the long term effects it has on communities. They would certainly benefit from a presentation by Paul Hendy of the Scottish Flood Forum.

Mr Moodie’s oral evidence can be viewed online – it is approximately 33 minutes in on this video recorded at the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee Flood Bill evidence session on the 10th Dec 2008.

Further details and Stage 1 reports are available from the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill committee webpage. The response by the ABI is particularly encouraging. More videos are available to view from the other evidence sessions for stage 1 of the Bill.

The Scottish Government appear to be driving flooding in the right direction and should be praised for such an enlightened and world leading approach. A significant step is the suggested addition of the word “sustainable” on the face of the bill in stage 2, which demonstrates the focus on a sustainable flood management approach.

A final alarming statistic from the press release:

According to MET Office records, going back to 1914, the summers of 2007 and 2008 were the wettest consecutive summers on record for the East and West of Scotland.

Let’s hope 2009 sees this alarming news being turned around in our favour. Jim Mullen, Vice Chairman of FFAG, presented similar findings to a public meeting a few months back based on SEPA rainfall data.

Technorati Tags: ABI, Fife Council, flooding, Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill, Freuchie, Freuchie Community Council, Freuchie Flood Action Group, Jim Moodie, Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, Scottish Flood Forum, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, Scottish Water, SEPA

Both The Courier and the Fife Herald have picked up our “Oh No! Not Again!” blog post of last week.

The Fife Herald version is available here.

Our thanks again to Liz Rougvie of the Fife Herald and Gordon Berry of The Courier for running our story.

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Rain is nothing more than an inconvenience to most people’s plans, but to the residents of Freuchie it is a cause of concern and sleepless nights. The weekend of the 10th/11th January was a wet one, as most people will have no doubt noticed, but the late evening of the 11th into the early hours of the 12th was a period of alarming heavier rainfall.

John A Thomson, Chairman of Freuchie Flood Action Group checked the culvert entrance at Freuchie Mill around 21:30 and was pleased to see the Freuchie Burn waters cascading down the hill were being easily handled by the culvert. However, this all changed after a period of heavier rainfall that lasted a few hours. Upon checking the culvert at 23:15 it was a cause for some concern and resulted in the camera being brought out into the stormy weather to record the sequence of the next few hours. The photograph below shows the high water levels at Freuchie Mill.

Photo: Freuchie Mill culvert at 23:15

By 00:30 the water level had risen to such a high degree that he started to fear another flood event as the spare capacity to handle the burn waters became less and less!

 
Photos: Freuchie Mill culvert at 00:30

When checked at 01:00, the levels were still as high at Freuchie Mill. It was time to check on some of the other watercourses in to see if they were in danger of causing flooding. Both Green Tree Brae and The Feus had spare capacity to cope with the relevant burn and drainage ditch waters, but even these water courses could have caused flooding if the rainfall had turned heavy again.

Photos: Green Tree Brae and The Feus at 01:00

The flow through the culvert pipe under the A92 at the New Inn Roundabout was low in relation to the capacity of water that it is able to handle. Flooding at Freuchie Mill is likely to occur with only margin increases in water volumes up at New Inn. 

Photos: A92 – New Inn culvert at 01:00

Thankfully the heavy rainfall eased over the next few hours and provided enough of a rest bite for the water level to start dropping by 02:45.

Photos: Freuchie Mill culvert at 02:45

The water level of Freuchie Burn was still running high at 09:00 on the 12th, even although there had been little rainfall since the early hours of the morning.

Photos: Freuchie Mill culvert at 09:00

Thanks go again to SEPA for their sharing of the local rainfall data for this period:

Please note: This data has not be fully quality control checked

Table 1: SEPA rainfall data for Newton of Falkland

The data supports the water levels observed and photographed, with the most intense rainfall occurring between 21:00 on the 11th and 00:00 on the 12th. It also shows the rainfall was in no way exceptional based on historical data.

The daily rainfall data, which is taken from 9am to 9am, also makes for interesting reading:

Please note: This data has not be fully quality control checked

Table 2: Daily rainfall for Newton of Falkland

Freuchie Mill was only one heavy downpour away from yet another flood event that could have caused serious property damage. Mother Nature kindly decided to give Freuchie Mill residents a break on this occasion, but she may not be so benevolent next time around.

Time is of the essence to find the solutions required to control the surge waters coming down Freuchie Burn and to put in place effective flood prevention and protection measures to protect the homes and other property at Freuchie Mill. It also shows how the other identified flood risk areas in Freuchie must be investigated and protected as a priority.

Technorati Tags: flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Flood Action Group, New Inn, SEPA

In The Courier on Saturday, Derek Crowe, Senior Manager of Roads & Engineering Services for Fife Council, was quoted as saying:

“In addition, we have been working in partnership with Kingdom Homes who have reinstated the collapsed culvert outlet-garden area affected by the previous flooding.”

Whether Mr Crowe has been misquoted or there has been a miscommunication between Fife Council and Kingdom Housing, the simple fact remains that the reinstatement work has not yet been started. The only work carried out so far was many months ago to ensure the site was safe and secure for residents and other members of the community.

Photos: Freuchie Mill culvert outlet as of 19th January

Perhaps the follow-up article in this week’s Courier will clear up the confusion.

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The next public meeting of Freuchie Flood Action Group is a presentation from Arthur Philp from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), during which we shall hear about the insurance industries perspective of flooding and how this may affect all residents of Freuchie and other flood affected communities.

Once again, we’re delighted to have secured such a high profile expert speaker to come along to present to flood survivors and other residents of Freuchie and beyond. 

Thanks go again to the Lomond Hills Hotel for providing the venue.

Date & Time
5th February 2009 at 7:00 for 7:15pm

Venue
Lomond Hills Hotel – Freuchie

Abstract
During this presentation, Arthur will explain the Statement of Principles for flood insurance, with the main aim at the meeting to cover – "What property owners need to do to help protect their property from future flooding and to help their insurer provide them with the best possible terms for future insurance."

After a short presentation Arthur will offer an opportunity to touch upon the presentation content and other flood and insurance matters of interest within a question and answer session. Arthur doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but he is genuinely interested in hearing the problems from the audience’s perspective. This is an important area where the insurance industry recognises the need to understand problems better and ensure all concerned work towards providing better solutions.

The developments in the new Scottish Flooding Bill should be touched upon during the talk and Q&A session.

Speaker Biography
After graduating from Aberdeen University, in mathematics, Arthur Philp has spent virtually all of his career in insurance – initially within IT developing insurance administration systems, then in project management and for the last 20 years, in Underwriting Household Insurance.

Although employed by Norwich Union, he is currently on part-time secondment to the insurance industry trade body, the Association of British Insurers (ABI). This follows a seven month full time secondment as a member of a joint working group with Government on the review of the Statement of Principles for flood insurance. Current work involves completing negotiations on the Statement of Principles for flood insurance with the devolved Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as continuing work on provision of flood risk data to insurers from the Environment Agency, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Northern Ireland Rivers Agency.

Within Norwich Union he is the Underwriting Development Manager for Household insurance, working within a department responsible for Underwriting Strategy. Arthur has been involved in considering the problems of insuring property against flood both within Norwich Union and with ABI since the early nineties when insurers had initial concerns about the increasing risk of coastal flooding in the South East of England due to climate change and, of course, significant river flooding in Perth (1993) and Glasgow (1994).

Arthur is a Chartered Insurer and has been working in the insurance industry for the past 35 years. He also represents the ABI in Scotland as a member of the Government’s Flooding Bill Advisory Group.

Technorati Tags: ABI, Arthur Philp, Fife, flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Flood Action Group, insurance

Freuchie Flood Action Group is delighted to announce a visit to Freuchie by Mike Russell MSP, Minister for the Environment, on the 10th February. The Minister is coming along to spend time with affected residents, officials and invited guests to hear about the Freuchie flooding incidents of last year and to learn from our experiences during and post flood.

Thank you to the Minister for agreeing to come along and to his officials for the behind the scenes organisation to make it happen.

Please note this event is by invitation only.

Technorati Tags: flooding, Freuchie, Fife, Mike Russell, Minister for the Environment