A MAJOR project which will curb the risk of sewer flooding in Annan and improve the town’s wastewater network is well underway.
As part of the delayed £5 million scheme, Scottish Water is in the midst of installing an underground storm water tank 20 metres below Newington Park – where flash floods and overflowing sewers have caused devastation to nearby properties in recent years.
Meanwhile, engineers are upgrading sections of Annan’s sewer network, having already laid 90 metres of new pipeline.
Furthermore, two control kiosks for the tank will be sited near the existing playpark, with Scottish Water pledging to upgrade play equipment once the project is finished.
Most of Newington Park – including the children’s play area – will be fenced off to the public until work is completed next spring, however, the football pitch and walkways around the edge of the park remain accessible.
Scott Fraser, Scottish Water’s communities manager, said: “It is great to see work underway for this important sewer project. This project is designed to do all we can to reduce future sewer flooding in Annan, including in areas where this has been an issue previously.
“We appreciate this work will cause some inconvenience in terms of possible noise or traffic issues and are very grateful for the community’s understanding while we work on this essential upgrade.”
Chris Green, who lives beside the park on Charles Street, criticised the initial delay to the scheme getting underway but said Scottish Water’s on-site workers have been “absolutely fantastic” so far.
He added that “a lot of angst” had been caused earlier this year due to a lack of communication with local residents regarding when work would commence. However, he said this week: “They’ve been very very good and their workers are friendly, very polite, willing to explain what’s happening and what they’re doing and it’s been a real pleasure being there. There’s been no disruption at all and I’m most impressed with the professionalism.
“They’re supposed to be blocking-off the top end of Rose Street which comes off Charles Street and onto the park itself because they’re going to lay drains down there. I don’t know what’s going to happen there as I’ve not seen it – it could potentially be a problem but if they deal with it the way they’ve dealt with everything else there isn’t going to be a problem.”
