WITH the recent extreme weather conditions flooding has once again been high up the political agenda.

Some of our local politicians are only too quick to point the finger without having a proper grasp of the local flood prevention strategy being led by the council.

Inverclyde Council was one of the first local authorities in Scotland to develop and begin implementing a comprehensive flood action plan with the aims of mitigating the risks and effects of flooding in the area.

Partnership working is at the heart of our innovative approach to flood risk management.

While the council is the lead agency for flooding it has been working closely with key partners, such as the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Scottish Water, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland and Ardgowan Estates, to understand the nature of the problems we have, establishing the ownership of watercourses prone to flooding and devising flood mitigation measures.

Work is now well underway on a £4.7m programme of flood prevention measures on the major local watercourses, including Hole Burn, Carts Burn and Lady Burn in Greenock, Devol Burn and Bouverie Burn in Port Glasgow, Coves Burn in Gourock, Glenmosston Burn in Kilmacolm and Gotterwater in Quarrier’s Village.

These measures are designed to attenuate and divert water flows where possible, increase flow capacity within the burns and aid the cleaning of grills to prevent the burns becoming blocked and then overflowing.

Attenuation is the process of water retention on site and slowly releasing it in a controlled discharge to a watercourse. ‘V’ notch weirs have been installed at four of the high reservoirs above Greenock and on the Cut, with another reservoir having a special piped arrangement to attenuate.

These attenuation measures reduce the flow of water, keeping the water in the reservoirs or in the Cut during periods of heavy rain.

There can be as much as 75 million litres of water attenuated on the hills above Greenock at any time.

A water attenuation system has been installed on the Lady Burn adjacent to the former King’s Glen School site to manage peak water flows by attenuating 0.5 million litres of water during heavy rain.

A system to divert water flows from the Lady Burn to the Carts Burn has been installed at nearby Aberfoyle Road.

This system will become operational when additional pipe capacity is installed further down the hill at Crescent Street to stop the Carts Burn overflowing.

A flow control device has been installed on the Carts Burn itself at Mearns Street to better manage the flow of water.

As well as these attenuation measures additional roads drainage and increased pipe capacity projects are proposed for West Station and Brougham Street to remove the surface water from the road and into watercourses to reduce flooding.

An automatic trash screen has been installed on the Carts Burn at Crescent Street to prevent the burn becoming blocked with grass, leaves, twigs and other debris. Further automatic trash screens will be installed on the Hole Burn at Rankin Park and at Lady Alice Pond.

In Port Glasgow, the council is planning to increase the capacity of pipes on the Bouverie Burn and install an automatic trash screen. The Bouverie Burn overflowed due to debris washed down from upstream during the recent heavy rain, causing major flooding in the Bay Street area and on the A8.

The council is also examining the option of attenuating upstream at Devol. A similar plan to attenuate water at the Cove Reservoirs above Gourock is being considered to prevent flooding in the Cardwell Bay area.

In Kilmacolm, the council is developing a scheme for the Glenmosston Burn to prevent flooding at Market Place. This will involve improvements to pipes and attenuation upstream.

This is just a flavour of a very extensive programme of works and hopefully gives you some reassurance that serious action is underway to address the major flooding hotspots across Inverclyde.