Bridge of Earn Surface Water Flood Study
Perth and Kinross Council · 27 May 2026
Back to Climate Change and Sustainability Committee — 27 May 2026 and its agenda
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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequality ___________________________________________________________________ Committee or Board: Climate Change & Sustainability Date of Meeting: 27 May 2026 Report Title: Bridge of Earn Surface Water Flood Study Report Number: 26/147 Report Author: Craig Harvey, Engineer, Flooding Team Organisational Lead: Fraser Crofts, Strategic Lead – Environment and Infrastructure ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this Report is to summarise the findings and outcomes of the Council’s ‘Bridge of Earn Surface Water Flood Study (SWFS)'. The report recommends that a flood protection scheme is taken forward for the study as this has been found to be economically viable and will reduce the impact of flooding for up to 26 properties. The proposed scheme will be submitted to SEPA for national prioritisation and inclusion in the next Tay Flood Risk Management Plan and Local Flood Risk Management Plan, to be published in 2028. 1.2 Sections 1. Purpose 2. Recommendations 3. Background/Context 4. Main Issues 5. Proposals 6. Conclusion 7. Impact Value Assessment 8. Appendices 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Committee: 2.1 Notes the completion of the Bridge of Earn SWFS as required by the Tay Flood Risk Management Plan and Local Flood Risk Management Plan.
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2.2 Approves the recommendations of the study, including the proposals for a flood protection scheme in Bridge of Earn that will benefit up to 26 properties. 2.3 Notes that details of the recommended flood protection scheme for Bridge of Earn will be submitted to SEPA for national prioritisation and inclusion in the Cycle 3 (2028-2034) Tay Flood Risk Management Plan, to be published in December 2027, and Tay Local Flood Risk Management Plan, due for publication in 2028. 2.4 Notes that public engagement events have been held to disseminate the findings of the studies. 2.5 Notes the requirement to monitor, review and update the Bridge of Earn SWFS in Cycle 3 (2028-2034). 3. Background/Context 3.1 Under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, SEPA and lead local authorities published their Cycle 1 Flood Risk Management (FRM) Strategies and Local FRM Plans in December 2015 and June 2016 respectively. These documents set out a range of actions that SEPA and responsible authorities took to manage and, where possible, reduce the risk of flooding over a six- year period. 3.2 The (then) Environment Committee approved the content and publication of the Cycle 1 Tay Local FRM Plan on 1 June 2016 (Report 16/241 refers). The (then) Environment and Infrastructure Committee subsequently approved the content of an Interim Report on the progress made in implementing the Cycle 1 Local FRM Plans on 23 January 2019 (Report 19/16 refers). 3.3 SEPA and lead local authorities published updated Cycle 2 FRM Plans and Local FRM Plans in December 2021 and December 2022 respectively for the six-year period from 2022 to 2028. The Climate Change & Sustainability Committee approved the content and publication of the Cycle 1 Final Report and Cycle 2 Tay Local FRM Plan on 19 December 2022 (Report 22/307 refers). The Climate Change & Sustainability Committee subsequently approved the content of an Interim Report on the progress made in implementing the Cycle 2 Local FRM Plans on 10 November 2025 (Report 25/300 refers). The published documents can be viewed at the following link: http://www.pkc.gov.uk/frmplans. 3.4 The published FRM Plans and Local FRM Plans identify various flood studies as a means of further improving the understanding of flood risk in certain locations. The plans identified a Surface Water Flood Study (SWFS) for Bridge of Earn. The purpose of this study was to explore what further action would be required to manage surface water flood risk in Bridge of Earn and set this out in a plan. Actions could then be identified and assessed against technical, economic and acceptability factors to determine feasibility.
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Any feasible actions could then be implemented as part of a flood protection scheme. 3.5 The 2009 Act provides local authorities with discretionary powers to promote flood protection schemes. Only those flood schemes which have been included in the published FRM Plans, the Local FRM Plans and the national priority list are taken forward in the subsequent 6-year period. 3.6 Although public authorities are expected to take a proactive role in managing and, where achievable, lowering flood risk, the primary responsibility for avoiding or managing flood risk still remains with land and property owners. The 2009 Act does not alter this. Individuals, businesses and communities must, therefore, play a critical role in making themselves more resilient and helping to reduce the impact of flooding. 4. Main Issues 4.1 Bridge of Earn is located in the River Tay catchment within Potentially Vulnerable Area (PVA) 02/08/14. 4.2 The primary source of flooding in Bridge of Earn is fluvial (river) flooding. Fluvial flooding was mitigated through the construction of the Bridge of Earn Flood Prevention Scheme in 2001 and 2006 to provide, at that time, up to a 1 in 50-year standard of protection to the areas of Sealsbridge, Burnbank, Riverside and Earnbank from the River Earn, Yellow and Deich Burn. 4.3 A secondary source of flooding in Bridge of Earn is pluvial (surface water) flooding. The term surface water flooding is often used to describe the complex interaction of many sources of flooding as a result of rainfall run-off flowing overland, exceedance of small urban watercourses (including culverted watercourses) or artificial drainage systems (e.g. combined sewer), and groundwater. 4.4 In September 2024, consultant engineers, RSK Binnies, were engaged to carry out a SWFS for Bridge of Earn. 4.5 Binnie’s investigations involved extensive data gathering and analysis, consultations, topographic surveys, a hydrological assessment, hydraulic modelling, an environmental desk study, an options study, an economic appraisal and the production of final reports. 4.6 The SWFS analysed the integrated flooding mechanisms affecting Bridge of Earn and a series of flood maps were produced – refer to Appendix 1 for the 1 in 200-year flood map (the flood event with a 0.5% chance of occurring in any one year). This work provided a detailed understanding of surface water flood risk across the study area and identified 3 areas at high risk of flooding (referred to as ‘flooding hotspots’) in Kintillo, Old Edinburgh Road, and Back Street/Deich Burn.
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The properties located in Kintillo are at risk of flooding from the combined sewer network and surface water runoff from the topographic high points surrounding the area. The Old Edinburgh Road properties are at risk of flooding from surface water runoff from the west and south-east. Back Street is at risk from surface water runoff from topographic high points to the west, east and south and its interaction with the existing flood prevention scheme (flood walls and embankments) which protect the area from fluvial flooding. 4.7 The SWFS hydraulic model identified that up to 12 properties are potentially at risk during a 1 in 30-year flood event (the flood event with a 3.33% chance of occurring in any one year). In future this is estimated to increase to 41 properties due to the effects of climate change. A total of 32 properties are potentially at risk during a 1 in 200-year flood event (the flood event with a 0.5% chance of occurring in any one year). In future this is estimated to increase to 95 properties due to the effects of climate change. 4.8 In managing flood risk, the Council is required to have regard to the economic, social and environmental impact of its actions. The Scottish Government’s guidance recommends that decision making in flood risk management should be supported by an options appraisal. 4.9 An options appraisal includes a cost-benefit analysis and other techniques to determine whether a flood protection scheme meets its objectives, is sustainable and represents best value for money. In general, the cost of flood damage avoided over time must be greater than the cost of building the flood defences, i.e., they must achieve a benefit/cost ratio of greater than 1.0. 4.10 Binnies initially considered a long list of 83 potential actions to manage the risk of flooding. A high-level screening exercise removed clearly unfeasible actions leaving a short-list of 37 actions. The short-listed actions were combined to form 14 options for further assessment. The options were refined by a technical, environmental and economic appraisal to produce a preferred short-list of 7 options. Details of the seven short listed options are shown below in Table 1 and a location plan provided in Appendix 2.
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Table 1: Preferred short-list of options Option No Location Option Description Option 6 Old Edinburgh Road SuDS Option 7 Old Edinburgh Road (through Old Edinburgh Place) Flood relief surface water pipe to Deich Burn Option 8 Clayton Road Surface water diversion (speed hump) Option 9 Forgandenny Road Upstream storage Option 10 Back Street Flood relief SuDS to Yellow Burn Option 11 Forgandenny Road & Back Street Upstream storage and surface water improvements Option 13 Back Street New surface water pipeline to Deich Burn 4.11 The final short list of potential options, together with the estimated costs and benefit/cost ratios, is shown in Appendix 2. All options have a benefit/cost ratio greater than one and could be progressed individually. 4.12 To improve efficiencies the report recommends options 6 and 11 are combined into a single flood protection scheme for Bridge of Earn. The scheme will provide varying levels of benefit to reduce surface water flood risk in hotspots 2 (Old Edinburgh Road) and 3 (Back Street/Deich Burn) and so a standard of protection cannot be designated. However, If the scheme was implemented the total number of properties at risk of flooding up to the 1 in 30-year flood event would be reduced by 10, rising to 26 in the 1 in 200-year flood event. 4.13 The recommended scheme is estimated to have a capital project cost of £0.49M and an overall benefit/cost ratio of 5.5. The study has, therefore, concluded that this proposed flood protection scheme is economically viable and should be implemented. 4.14 The study was unable to identify an economically beneficial option for Hotspot 1 (Kintillo), mainly due to the majority of flooding being external to properties in this area, and flood mechanisms here were highly localised to each property meaning it was not possible to develop an economically feasible option to collectively mitigate risk throughout the hotspot. 4.15 The SWFS also recommends non-structural actions (e.g. promote property flood resilience measures and formation of a flood action group) that align with on-going actions to manage flood risk under the Tay Local FRM Plan. As part of the 2026-27 budget, the Council has approved initial funding to support a Property Flood Resilience Grant that residents will be able to apply for to assist with the costs of installing these measures at their property.
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4.16 In order to disseminate the findings of the SWFS, and to outline how flood risk is being managed in the area, a newsletter was posted to local residents and published on the Council’s Consultation Hub (https://consult.pkc.gov.uk/communities/bridgeofearnswfsevents/ consult_view/) during the period 2 December 2025 to 23 January 2026. The consultation period allowed residents to view the draft outputs from the SWFS, speak directly to council officers, design consultants and other agencies such as Scottish Water and Scottish Flood Forum. Residents were encouraged to complete a comment form to provide feedback on the SWFS recommendations. 4.17 Community drop-in sessions were also held at Dunbarney Church Hall, Brown Street, Bridge of Earn on Wednesday 10 December 2025 and Tuesday 13 January 2026 from 2pm to 8pm. The community drop in events were attended by approximately 40 local residents and 31 comment forms were submitted during the consultation period. 4.18 The feedback received indicated residents were generally supportive of proposed options and were keen to see some of the proposals implemented where possible. However, concerns were raised in relation to beaver activity, provision of SuDS at Clayton Road, perception of increased flood risk from future local development, maintenance of gullies and the sewer network, and landownership in areas where options were considered. 4.19 A ‘Question & Answer’ report addressing the main comments raised during the consultation period was disseminated to all respondents and is available to view on the Consultation Hub (https://consult.pkc.gov.uk/communities/bridgeofearnswfsevents/ consult_view/). The comments raised were relevant and informative but did not fundamentally alter the conclusion and recommendations of the SWFS. 4.20 Surface Water Management Plans (of which this SWFS forms part) should be monitored, reviewed and updated to align with the six-year Flood Risk Management planning cycle. The next update is likely to be required in Cycle 3 (2028-2034). 5 Proposals 5.1 The Council’s consulting engineers, RSK Binnies, have recommended a flood protection scheme for Bridge of Earn. It is proposed that this scheme benefitting up to 26 properties is taken forward by the Council. 5.2 The proposed flood protection scheme involves the combination of options 6 and 11 as set out in paragraphs 4.12 and 4.13. 5.3 The Council will submit details of the proposed scheme to SEPA for prioritisation (within the national list of flood schemes) and inclusion within the Cycle 3 Tay FRM Plan and Local FRM Plan covering the period from 2028 - 2034.
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This process is essential to secure the necessary capital grant funding to design and construct the scheme. This process cannot be accelerated, or it will not be eligible for Scottish Government capital funding. 5.4 The Cycle 3 Tay Local FRM Plan should set out the proposed implementation arrangements for the flood scheme in Bridge of Earn, including timescales and how it will be funded. However, due to the on-going Scottish Government/COSLA Joint Funding Working Group review of capital funding for flood schemes, and the other schemes that the Council is already progressing, the timescales and funding arrangements for the Bridge of Earn flood scheme remain unclear for the time being. The next phases of work to develop the flood scheme proposals will therefore not commence until the funding review provides further clarity around capital grant funding and provision is made within the Council’s capital programme. 6 Conclusion 6.1 This report provides an update on the outcome of the Bridge of Earn SWFS. 6.2 A SWFS was identified within the Tay Flood Risk Management Plan and Local Flood Risk Management Plan. The Council engaged consulting engineers, RSK/Binnies, to deliver the SWFS. 6.3 The Council’s consulting engineers have recommended a flood protection scheme for Bridge of Earn that will reduce the impact of flooding for up to 26 properties. The proposed scheme is economically viable, and the preliminary proposals consist of various measures to reduce the risk of flooding from a combination of flood mechanisms. This report, therefore, seeks the Committee’s approval to promote the consulting engineer’s recommended proposals as a flood scheme for Bridge of Earn, subject to funding. 6.4 In line with the Scottish Government’s National Flood Resilience Strategy, the SWFS reiterates the benefits of property flood resilience measures and recommends residents consider installing relevant measures in areas at risk of flooding. The Council has recently approved funding for a Property Flood Resilience Grant that will support residents with the costs of installing appropriate measures. 6.5 The SWFS also builds on and aligns with the Flood Risk Management Actions centred on Community Engagement (i.e. sharing of information and advice) and Community Resilience Groups (i.e. those community led groups supported by the Council to develop resilience and flood protection on a local scale).
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7. Impact and Value Assessment Impact and Value Assessments - Perth & Kinross Council 8. Appendices 8.1 Appendix 1: Bridge of Earn SWFS 0.5% AEP flood map 8.2 Appendix 2: Bridge of Earn SWFS Options and hotspots