This isn’t exactly a flood related post but it is important news for Freuchie next month.

Patrick Laughlin, Secretary of Freuchie Community Council, has sought clarification about the ongoing gas works currently underway in Freuchie. A Scottish Gas Networks spokesperson informed him of the following works:

Week commencing 19 Sept – traffic will not be allowed to enter East End from the A92 – all access to Freuchie from the A92 will be via the garden centre crossroads/Kettle Road. (That will be a good test for the traffic calming measures!!!)

Week commencing 26 Sept – this is more awkward for residents of Freuchie Mill Road and Freuchie Mill. There will be no vehicular access between Freuchie Mill Road and the A92 – meaning that residents will have to head east to the A914 for all their vehicular journeys.

The gas works will also take place on the A92 itself, at the Cross Keys crossroads, during this fortnight. But half of the road will remain open at all times..

Patrick further commented:

Scotland Gas Networks say they are in full and ongoing dialogue with both BEAR Scotland and Fife Council about these works and how they are signposted. All the agencies see the A92 closure at Eden Bridge as the ideal time to do the works at Cross Keys junction and you can understand their logic. Providing their signposting is good, the disruption should not be too great.

Please drive extra carefully and slowly at the traffic calming measures while these works are ongoing. Most of us will have had near misses or scary moments while negotiating the chicanes. Even Freuchie Primary School kids brought this up as an important issue at one of their recent annual presentations to Freuchie Community Council.

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Freuchie Community Council announced this morning on the FCC Facebook page that work has begun on the new footbridge at Greentree Brae:

Installation works on the long-awaited replacement footbridge linking Dykeside with Green Tree Brae have begun, and the bridge should be completed by the end of March.

FFAG will be reporting on this work as it progresses, looking particularly at the floodgate which will offer protection to Greentree Brae residents who were badly flooded on the 13th August 2008.

Freuchie Community Council is now on Facebook. This is an exciting development for the community to keep abreast of the activities of our community council and a new mechanism for our community councillors to share with the community.

Here’s the link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Freuchie-Community-Council/198227933534132

Remember to hit the “Like” button if you want the latest news and updates from Freuchie Community Council.

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Freuchie Flood Action Group would like to say a hearty thank you to Ewen Jardine for his advice, assistance and sheer hard work in relation to flooding over the last few years. As secretary of Freuchie Community Council his support was vital to FFAG and Freuchie residents in our efforts to deal with flooding and the many issues that impact upon flood risk.

Unfortunately Ewen did not put himself forward for re-election at the recent community council elections – a loss for Freuchie. However Ewen will still be kicking around Freuchie as he is still very active with other community groups in the village.

Our best wishes go to Ewen with all his current and future projects.

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The diligence and perseverance of Freuchie residents, Freuchie Community Council and Freuchie Flood Action Group ensured Lomond Group and Kingdom Housing Association made every possible investigation when considering the flood risk at the proposed development at Broomfield Place. We were informed last night of the withdrawal of this planning application due to the flood risk present at, around and downstream of the site.

Bill Banks of Kingdom Housing Association has sent us the following statement today:

Kingdom Housing Association withdraws from new-build project in Freuchie

Kingdom Housing Association has withdrawn its planning application to build 10 affordable homes at Broomfield Place / Millburn Place, Freuchie, which it had lodged in March of this year with Fife Council. This decision follows a thorough investigation of flood risk issues in the village.

A Flood Assessment Study undertaken for the Association has revealed an inadequately sized drainage pipe through the village, which also suffers from a blockage; as well as a more general lack of flood containment capacity. This flood risk situation may well be exacerbated by the proposed development; particularly as there is no current commitment to strategic service improvements proposed by the statutory authorities.

Bill Banks, Depute Chief Executive of Kingdom, expressed disappointment. ‘’The Howe of Fife is an area with a very high need for more affordable housing, and we were delighted to pursue this opportunity in Freuchie. Given concerns over flooding issues, however, we made it clear that it was never our intention to proceed with a project which could add to flood risks elsewhere in the village. As the study has not been able to demonstrate that we can safely develop at the site, we have withdrawn our interest in the project’’.

Kingdom Housing Association will continue to seek opportunities to provide badly needed affordable housing at appropriate locations in the Howe of Fife and elsewhere in Fife.

Bravo to Bill Banks for recognising this site as unsuitable for housing development. Thankfully Kingdom Housing Association’s investigations revealed the flood risk the community had warned about at the beginning of the planning process. 

The whole of Freuchie owes Kingdom Housing Association a debt of gratitude.  Their expensive investigations have revealed a far fuller picture of the flood risk on the south side of Freuchie – the lack of capacity in The Feus culvert, the blockage in this pipe, and the classification of this site and surrounding areas as ones at high risk of flooding brings even more weight to our call for a full flood study for Freuchie.

We also hope the Association finds suitable sites elsewhere in NE Fife to build the much needed affordable housing.

Let’s draw a line under this one with some final thoughts…

It is heartening to see SEPA being an effective organisation when dealing with flood risk issues, ensuring developments in flood risk areas are sufficiently understood and mitigated against.

There has been much discussion over the last year about the dissatisfaction with Fife Council Development Services and their procedures and systems. This case in particular has been an unadulterated mess causing much alarm and distress for the community. 

Thankfully the flood protection officers are doing sterling work behind the scenes when it comes to planning applications in flood risk areas.

The role of Freuchie Community Council cannot be understated. Their guidance and knowledge assisted the whole community at every stage of the planning application. 

There are also many residents who campaigned vigorously to make this a challenging planning application case. They deserve a show of appreciation for all their hours of dedicated hard work.

To the many people who supplied documentary proof of past flood events we thank you. This new evidence has strengthened our flood study campaign in no small measure.

We can now get back to dedicating all our time to the campaign for a flood study and flood protection and prevention measures for Freuchie.

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There was nothing to report at the Freuchie Community Council meeting earlier this week in relation to the proposed Lomond Group / Kingdom Housing Association development at Broomfield Place / Millburn Place.

Only a complex flood prevention solution will solve the flood risk issue at and downstream of the proposed site.

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The last few remaining issues were cleared out of the way at the monthly Freuchie Community Council meeting this week, which allows the green light to be given for the installation of the replacement foot bridge. The bridge will come complete with an automatic flood barrier to help prevent future flooding of homes at Green Tree Brae.

We must thank everyone involved for being so patient whilst the community, Freuchie Community Council, Freuchie Flood Action Group and Fife Council worked through the long list of issues.

We’ll keep you informed on the project progress over the coming weeks and months.

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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.

Technorati Tags: flood, flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Community Council, Freuchie Flood Action Group

Freuchie Community Council

Meeting 7.30 pm Wednesday 12^th May 2010

Lumsden Memorial Hall

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Apologies

2. Membership

3. Minutes of AGM and meeting of 14^th April

4. Fife Council Matters – Councillors/Locality Manager

5. Treasurer’s Report

6. Planning (to be advised at meeting)

1. New Applications None to date
2. Applications dealt with None to date

7. Correspondence (to be advised at meeting)

Matters for decision/action

Matters for noting

8. Other Business

— Multi-use Games Area update

— Flooding in Freuchie update.

— Footpath from Green Tree Brae to Dykeside update

9. Date and time of the next meeting will be at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 9^th June 2010 in the Lumsden Memorial Hall

Technorati Tags: flooding, Freuchie, Freuchie Community Council, Green Tree Brae

AGM 7.30 Wednesday 14 April 2010

Lumsden Memorial Hall

1. Attendance and apologies

2. Membership

3. Chairman’s Annual report

4. Annual accounts

5. Programme for 2009/10

14 April Litter Pick Saturday 24 April 12 May 9 June

11 August 8 September 13 October 10 November (Christmas tree Saturday 4 December to Thursday 6 January?)

8 December 12 January 9 February 9 March (Youth consultation) 13 April AGM + regular meeting

Next AGM Wednesday 13 April 2011

Followed by Regular Meeting approx. 7.40 pm Wednesday 14 April 2010

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Apologies

Minutes of the meeting of 10 March 2010

Minutes of the Freuchie in Flower Sub-Committee Meeting 24 March 2010

2. Matters arising from the 10 March minutes

3. Fife Council Matters – Councillors/Locality Manager

4. Treasurer’s Report

5. Planning (to be updated at meeting)

1. New Applications W/E 12/03/10 10/00210/FULL Conversion of existing agricultural workshop into a single dwelling at Freuchie Mill House KY15 7JA; W/E 19/03/10 10/00519/FULL Rear extension to dwelling house at Birchfalls, The Feus KY15 7HR; W/E 26/03/10 10/00587/FULL Erection of 10 dwelling houses at land east of 8 Millburn Place KY15 7HG;
2. Applications dealt with None to date

6. Correspondence (to be advised at meeting)

Matters for decision/action

Matters for noting

7. Other Business

—  Litter Pick Saturday 24 April 10 am — 12 noon

— Impact of recent A912 Roadworks. Impact on watercourses (J

Mullen)

— Multi-use games area update

— Flooding in Freuchie update — Fife Flood Alleviation Report 2009

— Footpath from Green Tree Brae to Dykeside update

8. Date of next meeting will be at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 12 May 2010.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Community Council