End in sight to decades of flooding for villagers
FLOODING in Kingseat has left villagers drained for decades but a possible solution may have been found.
Fed-up residents have faced sewage in their gardens and damage to property caused by floodwater.
Carol-Ann Fraser has been dealing with the problem for years and says she has called the council multiple times, asking what can be done to stop her garden from flooding.
She said: “I’m hoping it will be fixed. I’ve had it for years now and I’ve constantly complained. My house seems to be on top of the drain itself so every time it rains, I have puddles of water in my garden and it takes days and days for it to clear.”
The water, while an inconvenience has also damaged countless clothes dryers and she has even had to replace her garden shed.
She continued: “It’s been horrible and I’m sick of phoning up, complaining and getting told there’s nothing they can do about it. We have sewage coming up in our garden all the time as well and I’m constantly on the phone to them about that too and they never do anything about that. They come out and plunge it and leave me all the crap to clean up.
“I’m hoping that this councillor (Councillor Auxi Barrera) can work her magic, wave her magic wand and get it all fixed.”
Cllr Barrera has been fighting alongside Kingseat Community Council and her fellow ward councillors to fix the drainage problems in the area that has turned back gardens and the local park into swimming pools for years.
Now, after a meeting with elected councillors, community councillors, grounds maintenance and the council’s flood team, a potential solution has been found.
Cllr Barrera said: “Residents have lived in fear for long enough and I have made a concerted effort to draw the issue to the attention of the council’s flood team in the hope of developing concrete proposals.
“Proposals are still at an early stage but include installation of a trash screen upstream of the bridge and the potential removal of culverts. These actions would improve water flow and would help to stop flood water from backing up.”
The village park is also affected by floods.
Forbes Stuart, chair of Kingseat Community Council, told the Press: “It’s a long-term problem, there’s issues in terms of drainage within the park that Fife Council have been going to investigate for several years now but not a lot has happened.
“There’s a burn at the top end of the park that is called a soakaway burn and that runs down under the road towards Taylor Wimpey. That has been a constant irritation over the last 10 years, there’s been several episodes of severe flooding. The real issue is when water comes down very quickly, it just doesn’t cope with it.
“Fife Council, at least on this occasion, after our last meeting, appear to be happy enough to go ahead and try and solve the problem. We are very grateful for our councillors who have managed to push things on with Fife Council so hopefully in the next few weeks we’ll see a resolution to the problem.”
Dr Rick Haynes, Fife Council’s lead consultant for flooding, shorelines and harbours, confirmed that he’d met representatives from the community council and local councillors in Kingseat on August 19.
He said: “We visited the area and discussed concerns about flooding near the recreation ground at the community centre.
“We’ve agreed to look at options to help reduce the potential risk of flooding to the surrounding properties. We’ll keep the community council and local councillors updated as work progresses. There’s more advice for anyone affected by flooding at fife.gov.uk/flooding.”