Drain pain for Scone residents Worries backed-up water could bring freezing woes
A drainage dilemma has caused problems for Scone residents for the best part of a month.
The PA has learned of storm drains on the village’s Victoria Road being backed up and spilling onto the street for more than three weeks, sparking safety fears as falling temperatures increase the risk of the water freezing and becoming slippery.
Local resident David Stock has chased the matter up with both Perth and Kinross Council and Scottish Water.
He said: “I contacted the authorities because the layout of the road the drains and water escape concerns me.
“It looks as if the road could really become dangerous in a cold spell because the flow of water would feed into the frozen area and rapidly build up more ice.
“The water comes right up next to the pavement, with next to no difference in level there from the road itself.
“People walk on this side of the road, and it only needs a fast car to come down the steep-ish hill and skid just when pedestrians are there.
“Recently water started pulsing out of one street drain towards the top of the hill on Victoria Road.
“The water was coming up and out of one exit, running downhill and, after spreading out somewhat, draining away down the next storm drain.
“Since the water pulses out at a moderate pace, it could possible make almost ideal conditions for ice to build up.
“In this case, given that the hill is fairly steep, a car could slide on the ice and career into pedestrians.
“To me it is quite clear that there is both a burst pipe and also a blockage between these two street drains.
“There is a dispute between Scottish Water and Perth and Kinross Council as to where the responsibility of fixing this lies.
“Both have sent men out, but nothing actually happened by way of dealing with the flood.
“Now frosts have begun. I have phoned both Council and Scottish Water to log my complaint, in addition to those of other people living on this street.
“I have pointed out to Scottish Water and the council that with winter coming, there is a chance of sufficiently cold weather leading to ice forming and spreading.
“Scottish Water told me on Monday [November 6] that they will have a two-man team out to make repairs soon.
“It is totally unclear why they have waited so long.”
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesman said: “The council has responsibility for dealing with road gullies which are installed to collect surface water, for example, from rain run-off.
“These are cleaned annually and additional action will be taken as required if a problem should arise with any of them. We are aware that a road gully in Victoria Road is affected by water backing up in it and we intend to carry out an on site investigation next month with a view to resolving this issue.
“As indicated above, we will take action to maintain and repair our road gullies up to the mainline sewer connection. The maintenance of the mainline sewer itself is however a matter for Scottish Water.
“While we are not aware of any dispute in this regard, we expect all public utilities to restore the surface of roads or footways to an appropriate standard where their works have required digging up of the surface, in the interests of public safety for drivers and pedestrians alike.”
A representative for Scottish Water said: “A Scottish Water team attended the Victoria Road area on October 24 after reports of water rising.
“It was initially thought the water was due to a blocked gully and the council was informed.
“However, after further Victoria Road in Scone investigations by Scottish Water it was discovered that there was a burst in a pipe locally that was having no impact on supply.
“A full repair to the pipe has been carried out and a full reinstatement of the area will be carried out as soon as possible.”