Dunkeld Flood Protection Scheme

Updates

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.  
• The Flooding Team continue to liaise with community resilience groups in Dunkeld and work alongside the Council's Civil Contingencies Team and the Scottish Flood Forum to offer advice to these groups on the funding, resilience products and measures available to them.
• Perth and Kinross Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership have identified scope for sediment removal works within the Sawmill Burn directly adjacent to Atholl Gardens and at the culvert inlet at Spoutwells Burn to the east of Atholl Gardens. These works will be carried out in the coming weeks.
• Atholl Estates have now completed the required repairs to the Spoutwells Burn culvert on land belonging them near to its outfall to the River Tay.

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 Sawmill Burn annually, and the Spoutwells Burn and nearby unnamed watercourse every 6 months in Dunkeld as part of its duties as set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 (a map showing the route of the inspections is shown below). These are now due and will be carried out in the forthcoming weeks to check for debris or blockages within these 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. 

• The Flooding Team continue to liaise with Atholl Estates regarding land needed for the proposed flood protection scheme as well as the required repairs to the Spoutwells Burn culvert at its outfall to the River Tay. Atholl Estates have engaged a contractor to action this repair and the works are expected to commence late September into October 2024.

June 2024 update

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

CCTV survey

Following flooding in late 2023, our Roads Maintenance Partnership carried out the removal of sediment buildup on trash screens and in manholes around Atholl Gardens. In April 2024, a CCTV survey of the culverted sections of the Spoutwells and Sawmill Brae Burns was carried out as a precaution to check there were no significant accumulations of sediment or blockages.

During the CCTV survey of the Spoutwells Burn, the camera became lodged in a damaged section of pipework located on private land. Immediate remedial works were carried out to repair the damaged section of pipework and retrieve the camera. The repair works were completed on 13 April 2024.

The CCTV survey also identified accumulations of roots within the culverted section of the Sawmill Burn at Atholl Gardens and this was cleared during the survey. Debris and material were removed from a manhole chamber located at the junction of Atholl Street (A923) and Spoutwell. This is where the culverted sections of the Sawmill Burn and Spoutwells Burn converge. Below are photographs taken during and after the repair works at Atholl Gardens, and before and after the most recent material removal works at Atholl Street/Spoutwell junction.

Atholl Gardens culvert repairs

During repairs	After repairs

Material removal works from Atholl Street/Spoutwell junction

Before debris removal	After debris removal

We have received a copy of the CCTV report from the specialist contractor. After reviewing the report, we have identified further non-emergency remedial works which are required near the culvert outfall to the River Tay. We are in the process of identifying and advising the responsible riparian landowner. The information in this report will also inform the next steps in the development of the Dunkeld Flood Protection Scheme as outlined below.

Background

There is a long record of flooding in Dunkeld. Notable flooding took place in February 1990 and January 1993. Further localised flooding occurred on the Spoutwells Burn, Burnmouth Road, and at Inver in August 2004. In December 2015 and January 2016, Storms Desmond and Frank caused prolonged rainfall throughout Perth and Kinross and properties and roads were affected in the Dunkeld area. The most recent flooding occurred in February 2020 and late 2023, with properties on Atholl Gardens being threatened by flooding, or were flooded, from exceedance of the Sawmill Brae and Spoutwells Burns.

The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009

Dunkeld is located in the River Tay catchment within Potentially Vulnerable Area (PVA) 02/08/08 and Objective Target Area (OTA) 225.

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 2020.

We engaged consulting engineers, AECOM, to investigate the fluvial flood risk and identify potential options for managing that risk. The study involved the completion of existing investigations by previous consulting engineers, Mouchel, into the flooding of Atholl Gardens and Atholl Street from the Spoutwells and Sawmill Brae Burns. The study also gathered information from the community, Transport Scotland and SEPA to assess the risk of flooding from the River Tay, River Braan and Inchewan Burn.

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 for further appraisal. The shortlisted actions were combined into four options that were tested using the hydraulic model to assess their performance. 

Unfortunately, none of the shortlisted options for the River Tay and Inchewan Burn were economically viable as they all had a cost benefit ratio of less than 1.0. However, the shortlisted options for the Sawmill Brae and Spoutwells Burn did achieve a cost benefit ratio of more than 1.0 and Option 1b was identified as the preferred option.

A newsletter summarising the draft study outputs was distributed to the local community on 17 February 2023 and also made available on our consultation hub from 17 February to 10 March 2023. A community drop-in session was held at the Atholl Hotel, Dunkeld on Tuesday 7 March 2023 from 2pm until 8pm. This supplemented the information already made available on the Council's website and offered residents the opportunity to speak directly to Council Officers, AECOM (design consultants), SEPA and the Scottish Flood Forum.

A total of 28 people attended the community drop-in session and 15 submitted comment forms during the consultation period. In general, the feedback received from the community was positive.

A question and answer report collated all comments received and provides the Council's response to those questions. This can also be found on the consultation hub.

The Dunkeld 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 31 May 2023.

We 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 Dunkeld and Craigie Burn 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 the programme will be updated periodically to keep the local community informed of any changes as soon as possible.

The recommended scheme (feasibility stage)

The recommended scheme is designed to protect 35 homes and businesses, some of which have previously been affected by flooding in Dunkeld. The scheme will significantly reduce the risk of flooding to those properties from the Spoutwells and Sawmill Brae Burns. Once complete, it will provide a standard of protection equivalent to a flood event with 1% chance of occurring in any given year (a 1 in 100-year flood event).

The recommended flood scheme includes the works around Spoutwells and Sawmill Brae Burns. The initial feasibility design is shown below along with a list of the main flood mitigation actions. Further background information is available in the newsletter summarising the recommended scheme on the Consultation Hub, in the Overview section. The recommended scheme will be subject to change as the project is developed.

• Upgrade and raise existing headwalls on the Sawmill Brae Burn near junction of Blairgowrie Road/A923.
• Upgrade and increase diameter of existing culverts on Sawmill Brae Burn at Blairgowrie Road/A923 and Atholl Gardens.
• Upgrade and increase diameter of existing culvert on Spoutwells Burn at Spoutwell.
• Upgrade and raise existing headwall on Spoutwells Burn near Atholl Gardens. Property level protection or raising local ground levels for three properties on Sawmill Brae Burn.

Contact details

If you have any queries relating to the Dunkeld 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.