WELLHOUSE Housing Association (WHA) has invested over £80,000 in the first phases of work to bring new housing to the community in the east end of Glasgow.
The association has plans to create an additional 160 homes across three sites. Work has included site investigations and soil testing, while a crucial element of the plans is flood mitigation measures.
Glasgow City Council has grant supported all stages of this work since 2016 and working with the local authority, WHA recently commissioned a survey of the underground drainage system to assess existing drainage capacity.
A full report conducted by Scottish Water with respect to the requirements for groundwater flood mitigation work was conducted and, in January 2020, they confirmed that the existing foul water system carries sufficient capacity for new developments.
Wellhouse has suffered flooding in the past. Although the area is not on the banks of a river, a covered burn runs under the community and it is on lower land immediately south of the Seven Lochs Wetland Park.
WHA is now working with the MGSDP, looking at the required work which could include retrofit surface water management interventions for roads and properties. This would see the creation of retrofit highway raingardens and bioretention areas, which trap rainwater as well as adding to the biodiversity.
Initial feedback indicated the association would also require some form of attenuation tank to support future developments and all options are being carefully assessed.
Darron Brown, chair of WHA, said, “Flooding has been an issue in Wellhouse and we are keen to ensure that we do all we can to address this issue and put in place the necessary work. As well as protecting our existing homes and tenants, this work may also allow us to potentially develop additional homes in the future. We have identified three potential sites which could potentially increase our number by 20% and know that this would be welcomed as many people would benefit from the additional housing stock.
“We are incredibly grateful to or colleagues at DRS Housing in the City Council for their continued support.”
