Millions in damage after floodgates were not closed in time, finds 'damning' review

Perth and Kinross Council’s (PKC) chief executive, a former senior council official and a committee have concluded not closing certain Perth floodgates the weekend of October 6 to 8, 2023 “as per the protocol was the wrong decision”.

On Sunday, October 8, 2023 Bell’s Sports Centre – which suffered £2m of flood damage – alongside a host of other Perth properties were deluged after floodgates were not closed in time.

A review written on behalf of PKC’s Scrutiny and Performance Committee by PKC’s legal chief Lisa Simpson found both inadequate staffing and “the unexpected severity of the weather event undermined the quality of our response on that occasion”.

Councillors are “pleased to note that lessons have been learned” and a number of changes have been made including the purchase of lightweight barriers and having more staff trained to close gates and provide assistance if required.

View of the floodgate on the southern edge of the North Inch - taken from Smeatons Bridge. — View of the floodgate on the southern edge of the North Inch – taken from Smeatons Bridge. LDRS

A number of businesses, residents and organisations – including ABC Nursery on Rose Terrace, King James VI Golf Club and St John’s Football Club – all suffered flooding on October 8, 2023. Several residents were out of their homes for months as a result of flood damage.

In November 2023, PKC’s Scrutiny and Performance Committee heard how the McGoverns bought their ground floor property on Barossa Place in 2001 confident in the £25 million Perth Flood Prevention Scheme.

The scheme – Scotland’s costliest at the time – was completed in 2001 and had protected their home up until October 8, 2023 when gates were not closed in time.

The review’s findings will be analysed by Perth and Kinross Council’s Scrutiny and Performance Committee on Wednesday, December 18.

It found the Perth Flood Prevention Scheme (PFPS) “has served Perth and Kinross Council well since its inception” and “together with the associated operating model remains effective and fit for purpose”.

However the report does state: “The Perth Flood Prevention Scheme (PFPS) does not and cannot prevent flooding. Its purpose is to help mitigate the impact of flooding from the River Tay. This has been recognised within the current legislative framework which now refers, more appropriately, to Flood Protection Schemes.”

But it acknowledged the failure to close certain gates in time “was, with hindsight, the wrong decision”.

It was not just floodgates on the North Inch which were not closed in time.

A Commercial Street resident phoned the out-of-hours service at 10pm on Saturday, October 7, 2023 asking for the floodgate there to be closed then woke on Sunday at 7am to find her garden flooded and the floodgate still open. Her home was then flooded and she had to move out.

The report concludes: “As has already been acknowledged publicly by both the chief executive and the then executive director for Communities in their capacity as Incident Gold Commander for that event, with hindsight, the decision not to close the floodgates as per the protocol was the wrong decision.

“The committee acknowledges the resource pressures experienced that weekend and accepts that officers took a risk-based decision, taking into account the data available to them at the time, their professional knowledge and experience and an assessment of the situation on the ground. Nonetheless the committee agrees that the decision not to close the floodgates was, with hindsight, the wrong decision.”

Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser has called the findings of the report “damning but not entirely unexpected”.

He said: “The findings of this report are damning but not entirely unexpected. It is really shocking that it has taken the SNP-run council more than a year to finally admit it was wrong to leave the floodgates open, which many of us said at the time. As a result of the council’s mishandling of this awful situation many homes and businesses were flooded, costing millions of pounds and misery for all those involved.

“However, despite the council admitting to its own failings we have the council’s legal chief trying to pass the blame on to a lack of staffing and the weather. This suggests a reluctance to fully accept responsibility for what went wrong.

“Residents in Perth deserve to be treated a lot better than this.”

The report also concluded PKC’s response to severe weather that year on October 18-21, October 27-29 and December 27, 2023 were “robust and effective”.

The findings of the review will be further discussed at PKC’s Scrutiny and Performance Committee on Wednesday.