A year into the St Mary’s Community engagement project, aiming to bring Sustainable Storm water measures to the area, we reflect over coffee and croissant.
As we reach the one-year mark of the St Mary’s Community project, our team gathered over coffee and croissants to discuss our journey towards improving sustainable storm water measures with St Mary’s community (Craigowl Primary, St Andrews Primary and the Community Centre over three years). Our mission is not just about making sustainable drainage accessible to the community; it’s about layering in local knowledge and new learning into community engagement.
Meeting with the St Mary’s Community Centre volunteers, we heard the voices of those who’ve watched the area evolve, witnessed the impact of development and weathered the storms. Each meeting was kicked off with a trip to Lidl bakery to pick up croissants and buns. Alice, Ann, Barbara and Ruth sorted us with cups of tea or coffee, and we spread our big drainage maps on the table to discuss. We talked about how the rainwater that falls on St Mary’s gets into the sewers (lots of roofs and road water), heads towards Monifieth, and is pumped up to near Arbroath (to the Hatton Wastewater Treatment Works). The rain gets treated as sewage*, using electricity and chemicals for pumping and treatment that could be avoided. And that’s our aim.
At the community centre, we want to manage the rainwater better. Over the summer, we worked to redesign the community centre drainage with Abertay University and OPEN (Optimised Environments Ltd). The plan is for new guttering and extra downpipes to take water into planters (sustainable urban drainage planters, aka SUDS planters), more like the natural water cycle where plants soak up rainwater. A new rain waterbutt will give a
sustainable outdoor water supply. The most significant change is the proposed rain garden at the front door, to take the roof water (across in filter strip drains) along to a garden. The plan is for easy maintenance plants that can survive both dry times and heavy rainstorms. A variety of plants will make a more biodiverse space that’s good for pollinators and,
hopefully, makes a lovely space for people to enjoy.
We’re not quite ready to build yet. We need to take gather feedback and make changes and get all of our ducks in a row (behind the scenes) to ensure successful delivery. We’re hopeful to involve the community with planting the flowers and plants, and then to get a rainy day to stand outside and watch the new drainage put to the test!
*88% of the sewers in Dundee take rainwater, not just foul water, that’s the highest amount of ‘combined’ network in Scotland.
The St Mary’s Community Engagement project is funded by the Scottish Government, and delivered by ‘Water Resilient Dundee’ (Scottish Water, Dundee City Council alongside Abertay University and Optimised Environments Ltd.)