The Courier features an article on the decision by Kingdom Housing Association to pull the plug on the Broomfield Place / Millburn Place development due to the flood risk.
Grab yourself a copy of The Courier then turn to page 4 to read Cllr MacDiarmid’s and FFAG’s comments.
Outstanding journalism by our friends at The Courier. Thanks Cheryl.
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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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A few people have been asking where on the Fife Council website they can make a comment on the Millburn / Broomfield Place development. The link to the planning application is show below:
http://planning.fife.gov.uk/online/applicationDetails.do?action=showSummary&caseNo=10/00587/FULL
Click on the “Make a Comment” button then fill in the form.
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The Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) is now available on the Fife Council Planning website for the proposed Broomfield Place / Millburn Place affordable housing development. Check it out here.
First off the community is disappointed that we weren’t consulted on the FRA, especially as FFAG had made a request for local consultation. As a community we have built up extensive knowledge of the local water courses and areas that flood since August 2008.
We’re also disappointed that little consideration appears to have been given to the flood risk downstream of the development, especially so at Freuchie Mill. The FRA does not appear to demonstrate a key SEPA and planning principle of not making flooding worse elsewhere.
There is also some contradiction between the information contained within this report and the Freuchie Mill report done last year. We’ll be taking this up with Fife Council to gain insight to the true state of flood risk.
Finally, the flood prevention scheme being proposed brings welcome protection to properties around about the development site, including Broomfield Place, Church Street, Millburn Place and The Feus, but it may put Fortharfield, Shiels Avenue and Freuchie Mill Road at higher risk from flooding and almost certainly will bring more frequent and/or intense flooding to Freuchie Mill.
A follow-up objection response from FFAG has been sent into Fife Council Development Services. Should appear on the planning application website in a day or so.
One final thought: two “studies” (term is used in its most generic sense) have now been completed for Freuchie and both have revealed areas at high risk from flooding. How many more times must Freuchie experience flooding before a full flood study is carried out?
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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.
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