Flooding action: drop-in for residents
Protection for Comrie
Comrie residents are being invited to find out more about new flood protection measures for the village at two public meetings next month.
Perth and Kinross Council is hosting dropin sessions in September to update locals on options aimed at managing the risk of flooding.
Comrie was devastated by flooding in 2012 when the town was inundated by water from the River Ruchill on two separate occasions.
Since then, a £1 million flood mitigation scheme has been put in place on the Ruchill aimed at reducing the risk of this happening again.
Residents remain concerned, however, about flooding from the village’s other two water courses – the Rivers Earn and Lednock – and the council engaged consulting engineers Mouchel to investigate measures to manage the wider risk of flooding.
The firm has now come up with a range of flood defence options - including a preferred option.
However, council officials want to consult with the community first before making a decision on how to move forward.
A PKC spokeswoman said: “In order to address local community concerns, Mouchel’s recent work has focussed on the flood risk from all three watercourses in the area.
“They have already considered a wide range of potential options for managing flood risk in Comrie and made recommendations to the Council.
“A flood scheme for the town has also been included within the national priority list of flood schemes and forms part of the current Tay Flood Risk Management Strategy and Local Flood Risk Management Plan.
“We are also continuing to work with the Comrie Community Resilience Group to raise awareness and encourage the local community to become more prepared and resilient to deal with flooding in the future.”
The community dropin sessions take place on Thursday, September 1 and Thursday, September 8, from 2- 8pm in the Ruchill Hall of Comrie Community Centre (the White Church).
Council officials and engineers from Mouchel will be available to provide more information about the flood scheme investigations and other action to manage flood risk in Comrie.
They will also answer questions from residents and representatives f rom the Sc o t t i s h Environmental Protection Agency and the Scottish Flood Forum have also been invited to attend.
Comrie Community Council chair Sandra McRitchie said: “The council are engaging the community to discuss the recent works which have been going on in the village in advance of starting the flood prevention scheme.
“This will be a good opportunity for people to come along and find out more about their plans and what’s intended for the village.”
Comrie was hit by serious flooding in August 2012 when houses and gardens were inundated with water from the River Ruchill which burst its banks after heavy rainfall.
Three months later in November, the Dalginross area of the village was devastated a second time as torrents of flood water cascaded through streets after the river again overflowed.