Questions posed by Jackie Baillie to the Scottish Parliament.
Questions posed by Jackie Baillie to the Scottish Parliament.
This is a record of questions and answers raised at the Scottish Parliament relating to Scottish Office flood prevention budgets and plans.
Click the links below to read the written question and the answer to these questions.
Levenhowe Resident Association met with Jackie Baillie MSP, WDC and SEPA on Monday, 13th January 2025 - Meeting Minutes
Meeting with Jackie Baillie MSP/SEPA/ West Dunbartonshire Council/ Denis Blackwood (Levenhowe residents)
Monday 13 January 2025 12pm in West Dunbartonshire Council Office, Church Street, Dumbarton and online.
Attending:
Jackie Baillie MSP
Denis Blackwood – Levenhowe Residents Association
Gail McFarlane – Chief Officer of Roads and Neighbourhood Services
Liam Greene – Roads and Transportation Manager
Ian Hastings– Technical Assistant, Flood Risk Management (online)
Peter Finnie – Public Affairs, SEPA (online)
Graeme Henderson – Water Permitting Manager, SEPA (online)
Welcome -
Jackie welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.
She highlighted the background and the significant flooding events that had affected the residents in the Levenhowe Estate, with people having to leave their homes for months.
She outlined that the meeting would go around the table with Denis providing the resident latest position with the burn, the council giving an update of what they have done and SEPA providing a general advice and what their position is on actions for the burn, such as dredging.
There would also be a discussion around interim measure to help prevent flooding.
Denis (Levenhowe Residents) -
Advised that there have been 2 major floods in the past 9 years, everyone in the estate was affected to different degrees with one family being out of their house for 10 months.
The biggest concern of the residents is that the height of the bed of the burn continues to rise so the capacity is less and the risk of flooding increases.
The overflow is working at the moment, but they are unsure how long this will continue if there is any significant rainfall.
In 2000 Gabion Baskets were installed in Dalvait and this seems to have pushed the flooding down to Levenhowe.
They agree that some good work has been done by the council to clear the drains, re-install the culvert, cut back overgrown trees and vegetation, and provide flood prevention equipment.
Very little has been don’t to address the problem of the actual flooding.
The residents want all of the experts to come together to find a long-term solution because all they can see so far is 10 years of dialogue but with no action being taken.
Could today at least let everyone decide a way forward and what can be done.
West Dunbartonshire Council –
They have put forward the proposal for cycle 2 of the Flood Prevention Scheme but there are no timetables or no indication when or if that funding will become available. The design process has been undertaken and the Scottish Government have set up a stakeholder group with COSLA. Cycle 1 is over time and the budget has been overcommitted.
The council has been assured that there will be a cycle 2 but everything is unknown at the moment, and they have the Flood Study for the River Leven (Levenhowe is one part of that) included.
They advise that interim measures are all that can be done at the moment.
They have engaged a consultant to look at an interim feasibility study. They are considering options such as dredging the burn by one metre and reopening the culvert but at this point there is no money in the budget.
Levenhowe Residents - (DENIS) the residents believe that they would get a significant benefit from removing the Culvert and dredging the burn and this is a piece of work they would like to be carried out.
(West Dunbartonshire Council)
The reason dredging was refused was due to the fact that no one actually attended the site for the previous survey and SEPA were not given all the information they should have to make a decision, as they had only looked at the area being dredged instead of the environmental impact further upstream as well and this will all be looked at in the new report. They will update the modelling and carry out site surveys to better inform the new report.
Once completed that will be taken to SEPA for consideration. They are hoping that it will be ready to present by summer.
SEPA- (Peter)
Understands that this is an extremely difficult situation for the residents.
Assures everyone that it is not about SEPA preventing action being taken but rather about what can be permitted.
SEPA - (Graham)
Any proposal needs approval because they are controlled activities and are decided on environmental harm rather than on flood risk.
They would require all information on the impact that any work would have on the whole burn as actions like dredging can unsettle the burn.
Any action must not make things worse and once you start dredging then you can’t stop it needs to continue.
They know that the council are looking to provide them with all the information that they require to make a decision and they know that any plan must be robust.
Dredging is not the most favourable option because it needs to be followed up and can’t be a one off.
Levenhowe Residents - (Denis)
It is a man-made burn, and the build-up is because of the culvert.
SEPA - (Graham)
SEPA are not ruling out the prospect of dredging once they get the full detail of the environmental impact. If it is man made this can make a difference to any decision and this should be picked up.
There may be options to remove the culvert without requiring permission. They would support the council to get a plan done ASAP, but they need to know the proposal and any mitigation.
It is clear the residents have a good local knowledge.
There may be an opportunity for SEPA to come out to a site visit and provide general advice. The council have already agreed to ensure that the consultant meets with the residents.
It would be helpful if SEPA attended that as well so that everyone is working together to make recommendations that can be agreed quickly.
They are all hopeful that this could be done by the summer but then there is an issue with funding as they will have missed this years budget and it may take a while to get funding in place.