South Kinross flood protection scheme

Background

Historically, Kinross has suffered from repeated flooding, with records going back to 1852. Significant flooding occurred more recently in January 1993, December 2006 and February and August 2020.  The main flood risk to homes and businesses comes from the South Queich, the Gelly Burn and the Clash Burn.

The Council previously engaged the consulting engineers, Mouchel, to undertake a flood study in the area. This study indicated that a flood scheme was feasible, and it was therefore included in the published Forth Estuary Local Flood Risk Management Plan. More recently, the Council engaged consulting engineers, RPS, to develop this initial study work and develop proposals for a flood protection scheme in the area.

The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act

Kinross is located in the River Leven river catchment and the area has been designated as part of the Kinross, Milnathort, Glenrothes Potentially Vulnerable Area Reference 02/10/03.  Actions to manage the risk of flooding in the area have been included in the published Forth Estuary Flood Risk Management Plan and Local Flood Risk Management Plans Forth Estuary Local Flood Risk Management Plan.

These actions include the flood protection scheme but, due to the cost and extensive work involved, this is likely to be some time away. 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 and in the previous community update (PDF) [83KB] . 

The flood protection scheme has been included within the national priority list of flood schemes. The Scottish Government and the Council have agreed in principle to fund the scheme.  The Scottish Government will contribute 80% of the overall capital cost and the Council will contribute the remaining 20%, assuming the Scheme remains economically viable.

Progress

Our consulting engineers, RPS, have now finalised the outline design for the flood scheme. This has been informed by ground investigations as well as environmental and topographic surveys.

RPS have undertaken detailed modelling to understand the risk of flooding in South Kinross from the South Queich, the Gelly Burn and the Clash Burn.  To increase confidence in the model, photographs, levels and information from the February 2020 and August 2020 flood events have been used. The risk of flooding is shown on the map in Newsletter 1 below.

RPS have considered a wide range of potential options to manage the identified risk of flooding including traditional walls and embankments, dredging, a diversion channel, flood storage and natural flood management. The recommended scheme includes a series of new flood walls and embankments, culvert upgrades and flood storage as shown in Newsletter 1, below. The proposed scheme is intended to protect properties up to the 1 in 200-year flood event but remains subject to community consultation, statutory consents and the availability of sufficient funding.

Public exhibition

The Council continues to liaise with key landowners to discuss the initial proposals. RPS have developed the outline design of the proposed flood scheme in more detail so that we can consult with the local community.

All of the options, along with the recommended flood protection scheme, were presented to the community at a public exhibition held in the Kinross Parish Church (10 Station Road) from 2-8pm on Thursday 28 September and Thursday 5 October 2023.

The exhibition was in the form of community drop-in sessions, with officers from our flooding team and RPS present to answer questions from the public.

Comment forms were made available to allow residents to record their views and highlight any issues or concerns, with a total of four comment forms returned.

The display materials were also made available on our Consultation Hub (opens new window) from Thursday 28 September until Friday 20 October, with a further eight online responses being received.

Together with RPS, we have collated the questions and comments provided and produced a community consultation report in response to these. This report is now available to view on the consultation hub.

Display materials

• 01 Introduction (PDF) [588KB]
• 02 Project progress (PDF) [392KB]
• 03 Flood risk in Kinross (PDF) [462KB]
• 04 Options considered (PDF) [706KB]
• 05 Recommended outline design - 1 of 2 (PDF) [727KB]
• 06 Recommended outline design - 2 of 2 (PDF) [726KB]
• 07 How will the flood walls look (PDF) [707KB]
• 08 How will the flood embankments look (PDF) [956KB]
• 09 Reducing flood risk (PDF) [334KB]
• 10 Options appraisal (PDF) [246KB]
• 11 Environmental Impact Assessment (PDF) [338KB]
• 12 How will my property be affected (PDF) [635KB]
• 13 What happens next (PDF) [435KB]
• Comment form (PDF) [55KB]
• Public exhibition presentation (PDF) [1MB]

Next steps

Following completion of the outline design and public consultation period, the Council has now published the scheme and will hereafter arrange for the detailed design, tenders and construction.

Newsletters

• South Kinross Flood Protection Scheme Newsletter 2 - September 2023 (PDF) [539KB]
• South Kinross Flood Protection Scheme Newsletter 1 - June 2021 (PDF) [3MB]

Contact details

If you have any queries relating to the proposed South Kinross Flood Protection Scheme please contact please contact Rory Stuart, Engineer (Flooding) at SKinrossfloodscheme@pkc.gov.uk.