Cranhill Benefits from City Deal Project to Reduce Flood Risk and Improve Greenspace
Last year marked practical completion of the Greater Easterhouse Green Infrastructure Project which introduced surface water management features in the local area to reduce the risks and impacts of flooding as well as creating drainage capacity for housing-led regeneration.
The project also sought to boost biodiversity and active travel appeal through the creation of new and improved greenspaces across Cranhill, Ruchazie and Blairtummock.
Additional progress can now also be reported at Cranhill, with a new basin now complete in the park which will address flood risk both locally and downstream by relieving flows into the culverted Light Burn. This new feature will improve drainage in the wider area and create new habitats for wildlife.
This work follows on from a visit to Blairtummock Park last December by children from Aultmore Park Primary School who braved the winter chill to see brand new footbridges that they chose the colour of, now spanning open sections of Whamflet Burn.
Glasgow City Region City Deal (funded by both the UK and Scottish Governments) provided funding for the project through the Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP) – with NatureScot (formerly Scottish Natural Heritage) providing Green Infrastructure funding from the European Regional Development Fund. The project also benefitted from contributions from the Vacant & Derelict Land Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund via the Seven Lochs Partnership.
Works delivered on site by contractor RJ McLeod to the design developed by Sweco, has seen the area’s natural resources advanced to encourage increased use of local parks and other high-quality green and water spaces (including links to the Seven Lochs Wetland Park) – alongside interventions to tackle flooding which can result from heavy rainfall. By implementing improved drainage measures, the potential for future residential and commercial developments has now been unlocked and local wildlife protected, including the creation of connected habitat networks for the area’s grassland water voles.
Through MGSDP City Deal investment of circa £45m, Glasgow is proactively working in partnership with key stakeholders such as Scottish Natural Heritage to deliver a programme of schemes to ‘Sustainably Drain Glasgow’, targeting areas across the city where rainfall adversely impacts communities.
Both the UK and Scottish Governments are providing the Glasgow City Region local authorities with £500million each in grant funding for the Glasgow City Region City Deal.
