Craigie Burn Flood Protection Scheme

Updates

March 2025 update

Since the last update, the following progress has been made:

• The first phase of the scheme (data gathering, scope development, procurement and appointment of design consultants - April 2024 to March 2025) is complete. Amey Ltd have been appointed as design consultants for the flood scheme.
• The second phase of the scheme (outline design, which includes public consultation events to disseminate draft outline design proposals for comment/feedback prior to being finalised - April 2025 to March 2026) will now commence.
• Perth and Kinross Council carry out a watercourse inspection of the Craigie Burn (refer to September 2024 update for inspection route map) in Perth every 6 months as part of its duties as set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. A map showing the route of the watercourse inspection on the Craigie Burn can be found in the September 2024 update section of this website. Following information provided by the community, Perth and Kinross Council carried out an inspection of the Craigie Burn at the beginning of February 2025. Woody debris was identified as causing a blockage in the burn at the manhole cover for the inlet to the South Inch Pond, adjacent to the railway bridge, and this was removed. Photographs and a map showing the location and extent of the clearance works are shown below.

December 2024 update

Since the last update, the following progress has been made:

• The first phase of the scheme (data gathering, scope development, procurement and appointment of design consultants - April 2024 to March 2025) remains on target.
• Perth and Kinross Council carry out watercourse inspections of the Craigie Burn in Perth every 6 months as part of its duties as set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. The inspection carried out in October 2024 identified a build-up of woody debris at the culvert at Queen's Court. A contractor was brought in to clear this debris in November 2024.

September 2024 update

Since the last update, the following progress has been made:

• The first phase of the scheme (data gathering, scope development, procurement and appointment of design consultants - April 2024 to March 2025) remains on target.
• Perth and Kinross Council carry out watercourse inspections of the Craigie Burn in Perth every 6 months as part of its duties as set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 (a map showing the route of the inspection is shown below). This is now due and will be carried out in the forthcoming weeks to check for debris or blockages within the burn which may significantly increase flood risk. The Flooding Team can be contacted by emailing Flood@pkc.gov.uk to report debris build-up or blockages within watercourses.

• Perth and Kinross Council carried out investigation and remedial works to locate and repair the feeder pipe for the pond at the South Inch in July 2024 and this is now operational. The pond has now started to refill but the duration will depend on water levels remaining high within the Craigie Burn.
• Scottish Water have been carrying out pro-active CCTV surveys of their sewer network across the South Inch and Craigie Burn path areas with sewer cleaning carried out as and when required to remove silt and material build-up. A large boulder was also removed during the cleaning works, but the sewers were found to be in good condition with no causes for concern.

June 2024 update

Acceleration of delivery timetable

On 28 February 2024, Perth and Kinross Council took the decision to invest £1million to bring forward the delivery of the recommended flood protection schemes for the Craigie Burn (Perth) and Dunkeld. Please see the 'Acceleration of recommended flood protection scheme delivery timetable' below for further details.

Sediment management works

The Council is a responsible authority under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 and carries out regular assessments of bodies of water to determine if they are in a condition which gives rise to a risk of flooding.

Following inspections of the Craigie Burn, it was highlighted that clearance works were required to remove significant sediment deposits that had built up within the stretch of the river channel from Glenearn Road to Edinburgh Road. We carried out these sediment management works in March 2024. Below are a series of images taken before and after the works.

Pre-works	Post-works

This work was carried out to maintain the available capacity of the watercourse within these areas. Maintenance of the maximum flow capacity through the rail bridge in this section of the burn will also improve the functioning of the South Inch flood storage reservoir by reducing the frequency of spills into it from the Craigie Burn.

We will continue to monitor the levels of sediment at these areas as part of our ongoing schedule of watercourse and flood protection scheme inspections, and where necessary, undertake maintenance works or clearance and repair works where these will significantly reduce flood risk.

Should you be concerned about the condition of a watercourse with regards to flood risk, then please report it to us by emailing Flood@pkc.gov.uk or by calling 01738 475000.

Background

There is a history of flooding in Perth from the Craigie Burn, and its main tributaries — the Scouring and Buckie Burns. Notable events that have caused significant flooding in the Craigie Burn catchment occurred in September 1981, February 1990, January 1993, June 2002, November 2012, August 2020 and September 2022 as well as late 2023. Flooding in the catchment can be driven by short intense storm events (typically during summer) and from more prolonged rainfall (typically during winter). As well as flooding directly from the watercourses, surface water flooding (from both overland flow and sewers) has also been observed previously.

In 2002 the Perth Flood Scheme was completed. The scheme consists of flood walls and embankments and provides this area of Perth protection from river flooding from the Craigie Burn and other smaller watercourses.

The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009

The Craigie Burn area of Perth is located within the Potentially Vulnerable Area (PVA) 02/08/12 and Objective Target Area (OTA) 253.

Actions to manage the risk of flooding in the area have been included in the Tay Flood Risk Management Plan and Tay Local Flood Risk Management Plan for Cycle 1 and 2. These actions included a flood study which began in January 2021.

We engaged consulting engineers, AMEY, to investigate the fluvial flood risk and identify potential options for managing that risk. The study included the building of a fit-for-purpose hydraulic model. To this end, the existing model developed for the Perth Integrated Catchment Study (ICS) was reviewed and updated and a 1D/2D model was created to produce fluvial flood mapping at Perth in the Craigie Burn catchment. This study included hydraulic modelling of the Craigie Burn, Scouring Burn, Buckie Burn and tributaries.

The flood study considered a long list of potential actions. These actions were then screened (on technical, environmental, social, and economic grounds) to produce a shortlist of 13 options for further appraisal. The consulting engineers, AMEY, then conducted a detailed appraisal of the final shortlisted options using the hydraulic model. This involved evaluating their performance under different flooding scenarios, considering their implementation requirements, compatibility with other policies and plans, and their potential to achieve the objectives of the flood study. Following this process Option 11 was identified as having a cost benefit ratio of 1.42 and so was recommended as the preferred option.

Two community drop-in sessions were held at the Dewars Centre, Perth on Tuesday 20 June and Wednesday 28 June 2023 from 2pm until 8pm. This supplemented the information already made available on this website and offered residents the opportunity to speak directly with Council officers and design consultants Amey Consulting, as well as SEPA, Scottish Water and the Scottish Flood Forum, who attended on Tuesday 20 June.

The community events were supplemented by an online consultation, with the display materials also made available on our consultation hub from 16 June to 16 July 2023. This allowed residents to view the draft outputs from the flood study. Residents were encouraged to complete the online form provided to record their comments and views.

The community drop-in events were well-attended, with at least 60 people registering their attendance across the two events. A large volume of feedback was received with 50 comment forms submitted during the consultation period, comprising a total of 187 separate comments/questions.

A question and answer report collated all comments received and provided our response to those questions; this can also be found on the consultation hub.

The Craigie Burn Flood Protection Study was updated and finalised, and the conclusions and recommendations of the study were approved at the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee on 27 November 2023.

The Council planned to submit details of the recommended scheme to SEPA for prioritisation (within the national list of flood schemes) and inclusion within the Cycle 3 Tay Flood Risk Management Plan and Local Flood Risk Management Plan covering the period from 2028 to 2034. This process is essential to secure the necessary capital grant funding to design and construct the scheme. Therefore, no further progress was anticipated until sometime between 2028 and 2034 with construction unlikely until 2034, at the earliest.

Acceleration of recommended flood protection scheme delivery timetable

On 28 February 2024, Perth and Kinross Council took the decision to invest £1M to bring forward the delivery of the recommended Craigie Burn and Dunkeld flood protection schemes.

As funding has been secured, our Flooding Team have started the process of taking forward the recommended scheme, as outlined in the indicative programme below. A flood scheme has both significant engineering and procedural challenges during its development so this programme will be updated periodically to make the local community aware of any changes as soon as possible.

The recommended scheme (feasibility stage)

The recommended scheme is designed to protect up to 22 properties, some of which have previously been affected by flooding in the Craigie Burn area. The scheme will consist of upgrading the culvert at Queen's Avenue/Queen's Court. This will significantly reduce the flood risk to those properties from the Craigie Burn by allowing the 1% AEP flood flow to pass through unimpeded. Channel modification at Balmoral Place and Queen's Avenue will also take place increasing the channel capacity and lowering flood risk. These would be subject to further investigation (to ensure that this would not undermine any riverbank structures and not increase flood risk to adjacent areas) and would require consultation with other stakeholders.

The initial feasibility design is shown below along with a list of the main actions. The recommended scheme will be subject to change as it is developed.

• Upgrade culvert at Queen's Avenue: replacement of the culvert beneath the access to the residential properties at Queen's Court. The existing culvert presents a significant constriction to the flow of water during heavy rain, so it is recommended this be increased in size. This would significantly reduce flood risk in this area by allowing the 1% AEP flood flow to pass through unimpeded.
• Channel modification at Balmoral Place and Queen's Avenue: increasing the culvert capacity and removing the existing constraint will also reduce the amount of sediment being deposited in this section of the Craigie Burn. The bed of the watercourse could then be potentially be lowered by approximately 200mm, increasing the channel capacity.

Contact details

If you have any queries relating to the Craigie Burn Flood Protection Scheme, please contact Craig Harvey, Engineer (Flooding) by emailing Flood@pkc.gov.uk.

Correspondence can also be sent to the Flooding Team, Environment and Infrastructure, Perth and Kinross Council, Pullar House, 35 Kinnoull Street, Perth, PH1 5GD.