Water, wastewater and drainage: consultation analysis

Views on: Drainage

Quantitative responses

The results of the closed questions are as follows:

• when asked who has a role in changing how we manage rainwater in Scotland to adapt to the impacts of climate change, the top three responses were: Scottish Water (445 respondents, 90%), Scottish Government (441 respondents, 90%), and Local Authorities (440 respondents, 89%)
• 212 respondents (43%) strongly agree and 151 agree (31%) that they/their organisation have/has a role in changing how we manage rainwater in communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change
• 215 respondents (44%) would not know where to find information on how to best manage rainwater in their property
• 372 respondents (76%) strongly agree and 94 agree (19%) that there is a need to plan, build, maintain and make room for drainage infrastructure to better manage rainwater in our villages, towns and cities
• respondents were presented with options of what Scotland’s drainage system should look like in the future. 402 respondents (82%) answered that Scotland’s drainage system should be a combination of both grey and blue-green infrastructure

In addition to the closed questions, we posed three additional free text questions to gauge respondents views and suggestions on drainage. These free text questions received a moderate number of responses, with the closed questions generally receiving a higher amount of responses per question.

Qualitative responses

Question 14: Who do you think has a role in changing how we manage rainwater in Scotland to adapt to the impacts of climate change?

This question featured a multiple-choice option which listed a range of organisations as well as a free text field for respondents to add additional responses.

Of the 152 respondents who decided to provide additional information in the free text field, 72 responses referred to the need for collective responsibility with regard to managing rainwater. Respondents noted that there is a need for everyone to play a part in how we manage rainwater to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Respondents primarily referred to ‘everyone’ as having responsibility, with some referring to the need for all the organisations listed in the multiple-choice section of the question as being responsible.

The next three highest responses were ‘Government’ with 23, ‘Local Authorities’ with 13 and ‘Scottish Water’ also with 13. In relation to ‘Government’, respondents referred to the need for government to take the lead on managing rainwater differently, particularly in relation to investment. Respondents that mentioned ‘Local Authorities’ and ‘Scottish Water’ often referred to the need for these organisations to have a role in leading on rainwater management.

It should be noted that ‘Government’, ‘Local Authorities’ and ‘Scottish Water’ were also all options in the multiple-choice field for this question. However, respondents felt the need to highlight these stakeholders again in the free text field. For completeness, the next two highest responses in the free text field, after ‘Collective Responsibility’, which were not featured as a multiple-choice option were ‘Developers’, with 10 responses and ‘Teacher/Educators’, with 8 responses.

Other responses to this question included, but were not limited to, SEPA, landowners, farmers, forestry, builders and organisations in general (with no specific organisations mentioned).

Question 16: What would you/your organisation be willing to do in your home/property to manage rainwater differently? For example, disconnect your down pipes from the sewer, have permeable driveways, install water butts and/or rain gardens.

Of the 401 responses to this question 122 responses (30%) advised that they would install water butts as a means of managing rainwater differently. Respondents were open to installing water butts to collect rainwater, with some specifically referring to installing these in their home.

The second most frequent response referred to creating more permeable surfaces with 81 responses (20%). Most of the responses referred to permeable surfaces as being a good means of reducing runoff and allowing rainwater to drain naturally. Some of the permeable surfaces mentioned were permeable paving, permeable driveways, grass and rain gardens. Some respondents also suggested reducing impermeable surfaces such as artificial grass.

The third most common response to this question was rainwater collection, with 50 responses (12%). Respondents referred to rainwater collection for household functions such as flushing toilets, washing cars and watering the garden.

There were a number of other frequently mentioned themes, including respondents who said that any actions would depend on the cost/funding available (47 responses), utilising rain gardens (43 responses), disconnecting downpipes (38 responses) and some respondents who suggested that there were limited opportunities to make changes (32 responses). Of those that referred to there being limited opportunities for them to make changes, many advised that they lived in flats/tenements and were therefore unable to make any significant changes to their building.

Question 20: Do you have any further views on how Scotland should manage rainwater in the future?

There was a broad range of responses to this question. Of the 321 responses to this question 37 responses (11%) referred to the need for blue/green infrastructure. Respondents referred to this as being a better solution than building more grey infrastructure and suggested we should avoid surface water runoff going into the sewer system.

The second most prevalent response with 30 responses (9%) was that funding would be required in order to implement changes to how we currently manage rainwater. There were comments that there would need to be investment in new rainwater management systems, including grants made available to homeowners to implement sustainable rainwater management at home. Some respondents also referred to making changes as being costly and referred to the need for significant investment. West Lothian Council noted that, ‘Any future policy for existing properties which will rely on building occupier’s good will to provide some alternative rainwater disposal method is unlikely to be supported unless heavily subsidised and must be carefully regulated to ensure that they do not result in other flooding issues locally.’

The next most common response with 23 responses (7%) was that partnership working would be key to carrying out changes to managing rainwater in Scotland. Responses referred to collaboration within and between multiple organisations as being necessary in order to carry out this work, including within Local Authorities and between organisations and bodies such as Scottish Government, Scottish Water and Local Authorities.

Other frequently mentioned themes included the need for planning controls (22 responses), reducing impermeable surfaces (22 responses), and the better management of drains (21 responses).

Engagement sessions

There was one engagement session specifically focussed on drainage, with comments on drainage also being made at engagement sessions covering the entire consultation, including tailored sessions with key stakeholders such as Local Authorities. The main themes from the feedback received at these sessions have been detailed below.

Discussions with members of Local Authorities during engagement sessions featured frequent discussion of drainage management. There was widespread agreement that legislation needed to be updated, funding for improving drainage would be required and a consistent approach applied. Participants shared that infrastructure needed improved, with particular mention of improving Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, but clarity was required on how this would be funded and delivered. Participants also highlighted that increased partnership working, particularly with Scottish Water, would be beneficial. Additionally, there was discussion on how to scale up blue/green infrastructure effectively, with emphasis on deciding who would be responsible for maintenance of infrastructure and how this would be funded.

During the drainage engagement session, there was broad support for surface water management. Participants noted that joined up thinking was required on surface water management when creating new developments, which would help it to become embedded, and that funding and more resources would be required. Participants also suggested that re-using water would restrict the amount that ends up in grey infrastructure, though there was also acknowledgement of the need for both blue/green and grey infrastructure. One participant noted that sewers (grey infrastructure) are not designed to hold the volumes that they are currently facing. There was also feedback that surface water management needs to be managed more holistically and that adding to existing surface water maps would be helpful.

Engagement sessions also included discussion of the negative effects of urban creep. Participants shared that there are challenges to retrofitting drainage infrastructure in existing urban areas. Drainage should be thought of at the outset so that development is strategically configured in terms of topography. There was also discussion of the variety of tools that can be used to better manage drainage, including education, incentives and legislation. These were themes that were similarly seen in the consultation responses.