Background
Comrie has experienced a history of flooding from the Water of Ruchill, the River Earn and the River Lednock. The most recent significant flood events occurred in January 1993, February 1997, December 2006 and in August and November 2012.
In 2013, the Council completed the following flood protection works to reduce the risk of flooding to the Dalginross area from the Water of Ruchill:-
Rock armour protection to the river bank on the Water of Ruchill at Ruchilside;
The removal of the old flood embankments at Tomnagaske;
A new flood embankment at Camp Road.
The standard of protection provided by these new works against flooding from the Water of Ruchill is equivalent to the predicted 1 in 100 year return period flood, with an allowance for climate change. This corresponds to the flood event that has a 1% chance of being exceeded in any one year.
However, these flood protection works do not address the remaining flood risk from the River Earn or the River Lednock, or the combined risk from all three rivers, and hence why a wider flood protection scheme is required.
The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act
Comrie is located in the River Earn catchment within Potentially Vulnerable Area 02/08/13.
Actions to manage the risk of flooding in the area have been included in the updated Tay Flood Risk Management Plan, and the Tay Local Flood Risk Management Plan (PDF) [12MB] . Alongside the flood protection scheme a number of other actions have therefore also been included to support the community in the meantime. Details of all of these actions can be viewed in the above Plans.
The flood protection scheme has been included within the national priority list of flood schemes. The funding of the scheme is shared between the Scottish Government (80%) and the Council (20%), with the value of each share fixed at the point of the main construction contract award.
The Comrie Flood Protection Scheme
he flood scheme is designed to protect 189 homes and businesses, some of which have previously been affected by flooding in Comrie. The Scheme will significantly reduce the flood risk to those properties from three rivers; the River Earn, the River Lednock and the Water of Ruchill. Once complete, it will provide a standard of protection equivalent to a flood event with 0.5% chance of occurring in any given year (a 1 in 200 year flood event), with a further factor of safety (known as 'freeboard') to allow for the uncertainties involved in flood estimation and other physical factors such as wave action.
The flood scheme involves the construction of flood walls and embankments. Details of the proposed scheme can be viewed on our scheme documents page.
Current position
We have secured the necessary statutory approval for the Scheme under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. The proposed Scheme was confirmed without modification by the Council's Environment and Infrastructure Committee on 18 August 2021. The Scottish Ministers directed that planning permission was deemed to be granted on 16 December 2021.
The detailed design of the scheme was concluded in spring 2023.
The exercise to procure a contractor for the main works has now concluded, with Balfour Beatty being awarded the contract in August 2024. We appreciate this phase of the project has taken longer than anticipated, and thank the community for their ongoing patience.
From 1 October 2024, Balfour Beatty are mobilising on site. The initial phase of construction will involve site clearance works and setting up compounds and construction access routes. The main construction works will immediately follow on. The construction phase is anticipated to last 24 months (October 2024 to October 2026).
We will continue to keep you updated throughout the construction of the flood scheme.
Latest updates
Please refer to our current progress and timeline page for the latest updates on the progress of the scheme, community engagement and the latest community newsletter.
Contact details
If you have any queries relating to the Comrie Flood Protection Scheme please contact Ross Fletcher, Project Manager at ComrieFloodScheme@pkc.gov.uk.
Correspondence can also be sent to the Flooding Team, Environment & Infrastructure, Perth and Kinross Council, Pullar House, 35 Kinnoull Street, Perth, PH1 5GD
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