Freuchie Flood Action Group

It has been two years since the flooding of various properties throughout Freuchie. Happily we’re not aware of any further major property damage caused by flooding over that period. However we did have the near miss event last year which threatened homes in Albany Crescent and Freuchie Mill.

We cannot be complacent in our campaign to bring flood prevention measures to Freuchie! Both Freuchie Flood Action Group and Freuchie Community Council are lobbying and working hard to make that happen. Our joint campaigning has already delivered some smaller measures to reduce flood risk, other measures are in the planning phase and we have a wish list of must happen sooner rather than later projects.

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Freuchie Flood Action Group has just received video footage taken during the flood event in the early hours of the 13th August 2008.

Yet more graphic proof of why Kingdom Housing Association and the developers must ensure they get the flood prevention implementation correct on this site.

This new content will be sent off to Fife Council Development Services, Kingdom Housing Association and SEPA.

If you have trouble viewing the video try going directly to the video hosting website.

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Photos: Falkland flood event on the  21st July 2010

Freuchie may have escaped being flooded this week but our neighbours over in Falkland were once again at serious danger of property damage. It was only through the installation of effective flood protection products that a number of Falkland homes escaped destruction once again.

Water courses appear to be at full capacity, spilling over their banks and the bridge arches of bridges seem to be causing water to back up. The photos suggest slowing down the flow, holding more water upstream and storing water before it enters Falkland, either natural or in ponds, would be part of a longer term solution for Falkland. Doesn’t look like there will be a simple fix, but it may well be a good candidate for Natural Flood Management (NFM) techniques.

FFAG is attempting to find out more about the Falkland flood to understand if there are some common elements that both communities can come together to address.

The need for a Falkland and Freuchie flood study grows stronger with every passing flood event.

Technorati Tags: Falkland, flooding, Freuchie, NFM

Our thoughts go out to the people of Perth affected by flooding over the last few hours.

The Perth and Kinross Council website has the following update:

Severe weather and flood warnings

SEPA has issued a flood watch for the Lower Tay and tributaries following heavy rainfall.

There is localised flooding in the Perth and Kinross area due to surface water runoff following the heavy overnight rain. Around 45 mm of rain fell in the Perth area overnight.

There are difficult driving conditions throughout the area due to surface water on roads and localised flooding.

The entry slip road from A85 Dundee Road at Perth to M90 is closed southbound due to flooding at Junction 11, Friarton Bridge. A diversion is in operation – southbound via Kinfauns flyover.

Feus Road in Perth is closed due to flooding. The B898 Dalguise Road is closed at Craignuisq. The road is effectively closed between A9 (T) at Jubilee Bridge and A827 Pitnacree Bridge. A diversion is in place via A9 to Ballinluig and A827.

The A924 Bridge of Cally to Pitlochry, at Tarvie, is closed due to flooding.

Crieff Road Pre-School Centre is closed today due to flooding however arrangements have been made for the Service to be provided today from Goodlyburn Primary School.

The Met Office has also issued a severe weather warning for the area. Rain will be persistent and heavy at times today. The public are advised to take extra care and refer to the latest SEPA Live Flood Warning Information, and also to Traffic Scotland for further advice on road conditions.

Please continue to keep an eye on the situation in your area and listen to local radio and television for further information.

This page will be updated throughout the day if the situation with road closures or flooding changes.

Checkout the BBC online article and the STV news article and video report about the Perth flood.

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Mother Nature is certainly hammering the planet this last week.

Brazil has been hit hard with fluvial flooding: 1000 people reported missing and 100,000 others displaced from their homes.

The BBC has a full report on the flooding in Brazil.

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It is very sad to hear of the loss of 200 lives in southern China as the area is hit by flooding. Nearly 70,000 people have also be evacuated from their homes near the Fuhe river in Jiangxi province following the failure of a river dike.

It has certainly been a bad week for flooding through the world with many people losing their life in China, France and Spain. Thankfully the good weather in Scotland has made for favourable conditions where flooding is unlikely – long may it last!

Technorati Tags: China, flood, flooding, France, Fuhe, Jiangxi, Scotland, Spain

Our thoughts go out across the pond to the flood hit communities of Arkansas.

It is being reported that 16 people have been killed with another 40 unaccounted for when rivers rose 6 metres. At one point the height of the rivers rose 2.5m in an hour.

The flood survivors interviewed in this BBC news report paint a particularly harrowing scene.

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Fife Council completed the surface drainage works at Freuchie Mill last week. The C23 – Freuchie Mill Road – is once again open without restriction. The residents of Freuchie Mill and Freuchie Mill Road now await the first real test of this scheme with nervous anticipation.

Once again thank you to Cllr MacDiarmid for his assistance in getting Fife Council officers to recognise the urgency for such a scheme, to the officers for finding the funds and organising the project and to Bob and the rest of his road crew for the back breaking installation of the drainage scheme.

One major flooding source dealt with, only two more to go! This new scheme will once again make the undersized culvert and the water source coming through Freuchie Mill House the pinch points of greatest concern. It is only a matter of time before these two identified flood risks cause significant flooding again at Freuchie Mill.

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For those of you following the proposed affordable homes development in the field to the east of Millburn Place, an important document from Scottish Water has been added that raises a number of new concerns. We will be highlighting these at next week’s community council meeting, but for everyone’s benefit let’s take a look at each of those in turn here:

1. Lack of Knowledge on Flood Risk

Should we become aware of any issues such as flooding, low pressure, etc the Developer will require to fund works to mitigate the effect of the development on existing customers.

Scottish Water can now be added, along with SEPA, as an organisation that does not know about the previous flooding issues with this site and the flood risk ever present. FFAG will be sharing our evidence of flooding with Scottish Water.

2. Water Network

Water Network – Our initial investigations have highlighted there may be a requirement for the Developer to carry out works on the local network to ensure there is no loss of service to existing
customers. The Developer should discuss the implications directly with Scottish Water.

What works may be required to maintain service to the existing and proposed homes?

3. Sewage Works

Freuchie Wastewater Treatment Works – at present there is limited capacity to serve this new demand. The Developer should discuss their development directly with Scottish Water.

Wastewater Network – Our initial investigations have highlighted there may be a requirement for the Developer to carry out works on the local network to ensure there is no loss of service to existing customers. The Developer should discuss the implications directly with Scottish Water.

Does this mean we could be at risk of sewer flooding or discharge of untreated waste into the Pittilock Burn if additional investment isn’t forthcoming to the local treatment works?

4. Surface Water Drainage

A totally separate drainage system will be required with the surface water discharging to a suitable outlet. Scottish Water requires a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) as detailed in Sewers for Scotland 2 if the system is to be considered for adoption.

There is a definite requirement to better understand how surface runoff is currently handled at this location. The lack of capacity to handle existing levels of runoff and land drainage that is passed onto the infrastructure at Freuchie Mill is already well documented and makes the adjacent drainage ditch an unsuitable location to dump surface water drainage. There is no other suitable outlet in our opinion.

It is also worth pointing out that SUDS is not a flood prevention measure.

5. Existing Infrastructure

It is possible this proposed development may involve building over or obstruct access to existing Scottish Water infrastructure. On receipt of an application Scottish Water will provide advice that will require to be implemented by the developer to protect our existing apparatus.

What possible infrastructure and what are the implication of the development upon these current assets?

It is heartening to see such a professional evaluation on the possible impact of the development on Scottish Water assets and the effect it may have on existing residents.

Technorati Tags: flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Community Council, Freuchie Flood Action Group, Freuchie Mill, Kingdom Housing, Millburn Place, Scottish Water, surface drainage, SUDS, waste water

The rainfall graph from the Freuchie Mill Weather Station (FMWS) pretty much says it all!

The rainfall seen yesterday is about half of that seen on peak days leading up to the August 2008 flooding.

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