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Perth mum stops her children from playing in park due to ‘raw sewage’

A stormwater storage tank continues to cause problems at Darnhall Park.

Flooding in Darnhall Park in Se3ptember 2022. Image: Stuart Cowper.
Flooding in Darnhall Park in Se3ptember 2022. Image: Stuart Cowper.

Scottish Water is working with house-builder Bellway to resolve a drainage issue next to a Perth play park.

One local mum told us she would not let her young children play at Darnhall Park due to raw sewage regularly overflowing from the drain.

Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) has insisted keeping its play areas safe was a “top priority”.

The mum – who did not want to be named – questioned how safe it was for children to play at the park which sits between Murray Crescent and Darnhall Crescent.

She said: “There is a drain that is full of sewage and it keeps overflowing. I do not think it is safe for my children to play there.”

Storage tank concerns

But PKC said an inspection showed there was no raw sewage detected on or beside the play equipment.

A PKC spokesperson said: “At the time of the works being carried out by Scottish Water the area was inspected and there was no raw sewage noted on or beside the play equipment.”

The drainage issue seems to have arisen from a problem with a stormwater storage tank.

The playpark at Darnhall Crescent.

According to Scottish Water Bellway installed the tank at Darnhall Crescent to manage additional flows from Bellway’s development just off Glasgow Road.

The tank has not yet passed into Scottish Water’s ownership.

System fell apart

Bellway said its “substantial” drainage system had “performed as designed” for more than five years until a major flood in September 2022.

A spokesperson for Bellway said: “Bellway has been working with Scottish Water to investigate the flooding on our site and identified blockages caused by the floodwater which were cleared to allow the system to work as designed.

“We are undertaking further works to ensure the drainage system is working correctly.”

Scottish Water demand

Scottish Water will not take ownership of the stormwater storage tank until the problem is fixed.

A spokesperson for Scottish Water said: “An additional stormwater storage tank was installed several years ago by a contractor working for Bellway in the park below Darnhall Crescent.

“The new storm tank currently remains the responsibility of the developer, but we are aware that it has not been operating correctly.

“Our local team has responded to incidents of surcharging to investigate, mitigate impact on the environment as far as possible and clean up.

“We have been engaging with Bellway about this and understand that they have recently completed further investigations. We will continue to work with them to ensure the cause of the problem is understood and remedied as soon as possible.

“There is a process for this kind of new infrastructure which is expected to result in the tank being transferred into Scottish Water’s ownership and care, but this can only happen once all required information has been received from the developer and any remedial work has been completed.”

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