Perth and Kinross Council respond to floodgate closure concerns
Locals and politicians have raised concerns over a 'failure to close the North Inch floodgates in a timely fashion'
Perth and Kinross council have issued a response following flooding across the region last weekend, 7th and 8th October.
The Met Office issued an amber warning on Friday, 6th October, covering vast areas of the region.
The floodgate at the North Inch wasn't closed in time to prevent the flooding despite the warning.
As a result properties, including the Bell's Sports Centre, suffered severe flooding.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser said he was inundated with calls from concerned residents. He said: "A large number of constituents have contacted me with concerns about the flooding that occurred in the City of Perth last weekend.
"A number of these residents own or occupy properties around the North Inch which were flooded on Sunday, and they attribute this directly to the failure of the Council to timeously close the flood gates on the North Inch, which allowed waters from the River Tay to flood in over a period of many hours."
The Conservative representative issued a number of questions to the council leader, Grant Laing, saying: "I have written on their behalf with 12 key questions to the Council Leader in a bid to get to the bottom of why this happened.
"I have asked him was the failure to close the flood gates on the North Inch a deliberate decision on the part of the Council, or simply an oversight. If this was an oversight on the part of the Council, who within the local authority was responsible for this, and what action is being taken in this regard?"
In response to the floodgate concerns, Barbara Renton, Executive Director of Communities with Perth and Kinross Council, explained: “Perth has a Flood Protection Scheme with protocols in place for closing floodgates primarily based upon data in relation to river flow and tides. This has been successfully used since the scheme opened in 2001.
“We start considering the closure of gates when hydrology data, provided by SEPA, indicates this is necessary. The exception is the South Inch floodgates which are closed on the basis of a yellow warning because of the particular risk of surface flooding. The closure of all other floodgates is based on river flow and tide data. We accept that this distinction was not made clear in social media communications and apologise for any confusion this caused.
“In relation to the river flow data and high tide times we were in dialogue with SEPA throughout the course of the weekend. On Saturday evening, 90 minutes before high tide, the Council were advised of an increase in waterflow. The timing meant that resources could not be mobilised to safely close the floodgates ahead of high tide that evening (potentially the point of greatest risk). A visual inspection of levels was carried out however which confirmed that there was no risk of flooding from the river at that time.
“Further consultation with SEPA took place at 00.30 on Sunday. At that point the data modelling indicated that the river flow on Sunday would remain the same as was, but with a drop in the expected level of the high tide. A risk-based decision was therefore taken to close the floodgates on Sunday morning, well before the next high tide in the early afternoon.
“Unexpectedly, water levels surged rapidly overnight and we were alerted by SEPA just before 5.15am. At that point all available officers were remobilised to close floodgates. The order in which the floodgates were closed was again based on an assessment of risk by experienced officers. Unfortunately because of the water level on the North Inch, officers were unable to close one of the floodgates.
She added, “The Council recognises the severe weather over the weekend of October 7th and 8th had significant impact for communities, householders and businesses.
“We are grateful for the work undertaken by officers and by community groups across the Council area, and residents who took action themselves, which helped mitigate the consequences of the weather in many parts of Perth and Kinross.
“Council officers worked alongside the emergency services over the weekend to support residents and property owners, and since Monday, have been supporting the recovery across the area. In addition, given that a further yellow warning was still in place, the Council was also preparing for the potential impact of further widespread rainfall and disruption across Perth and Kinross.
She added that there will be a review of actions and decision making surrounding the Flood Protection Scheme, saying: “As always, the Council’s Flooding Team will assess the impact of the weather event across all affected communities, particularly Perth City and Aberfeldy.
“Information on water flow, flood levels and the timing of data sharing between partners is critical to the incident management. Perth and Kinross Council raised concerns about these processes during the incident, and these issues will be covered as part of the multi-agency review.
“In addition, following a direction from the Administration, we are reviewing our collective actions and decision-making in relation to the Perth Flood Protection Scheme. This will also include examination of external factors which had a potential impact, not least, the reason for the unexpected surge in waterflow notified to us in the early hours of Sunday. Further potential areas include drainage issues, surface flooding, ground saturation levels and rainfall.
“We understand the frustration of those who suffered flooding. I would ask residents and business owners to bear with us and allow us to focus our resources on the recovery and review processes.”