North Sea Skills Integration and New Technologies

Speaking a multi disciplinary language to integrate the worlds of spatial planning and water management. Encouraging the implementation of innovative technical and sustainable solutions which have already proved to be successful.

Oudenarde Village Project

Oudenarde Village Project. Bridge of Earn, Scotland. January 2008.
Phase 1 Completion November 2009.

A multi-stakeholder partnership consisting of Perth & Kinross Council, a local developer, environmental consultant and a housing association committed to providing a range of housing that contribute to improving quality of life and promoting community well-being have successfully completed the first phase of a new village on a brown-field site that was formally a WWII military hospital and is situated in a floodplain.

Plate 1. Bridge of Earn Military Hospital (before) and Oudenarde Village Site 2008 (after).

Abstract: Located to the east of Bridge of Earn the newly created first phase of the Oudenarde Village will assist in relieving the current pressure on the housing market in nearby Perth. The Masterplan for the rural housing project was approved in 2005 for development of large scale (122 Ha) site where surface water drainage is via SUDS that comply with the newly published Sewers for Scotland 2nd Edition (2007) and have been carefully designed to enhance biodiversity potential of the structure which is close to a local countryside access route to the river Earn.

Plate 2.  Oudenarde Schematic. Courtesy of Millard Consulting and GS Brown Construction.

Main Stakeholders: A partnership of GS Brown Construction, Hillcrest Housing Association, Millard Consulting and Perth and Kinross Council, maintained commitment to developing phases 1 and 2 of the new Village of Oudenarde at the old military hospital site in spite of the present economic climate which may now delay future phases for a significant period. Phase 2 of the affordable housing project, which has been approved and commences in 2010, is due for completion by 2014. Further phases include mainstream housing, a primary school, a health care facility and business park.

Outcome: The conversion from the former WWII military hospital to the founding of new Oudenarde Village has provided the local area with much needed houses for affordable rent and low cost home ownership. The multi-stakeholder partnership have persevered with the project since 1999 when a review of housing land in the Perth area identified a substantial need for the construction of new housing. The new rural development also reflects the need to support the local rural economy.

In Scotland the Water Framework Directive was transposed through the passing of the Water Environment and Water Services Act (2003). This Act redefined the term sewer to include public SUDS which subsequently made Scottish Water responsible for the vesting of SUDS when the amendment became official in 2007 with the passing of the Sewerage (Scotland) Act. The Act also gave Scottish Water the power to define the technical standards for SUDS. This lead to the publication of Sewers for Scotland 2nd Edition which outlined guidance for the technical standards that developers must comply with if the drainage asset (SUDS) is expected to be vested in Scottish Water.

The SUDS at Oudenarde have been designed in consultation with Scottish Water to reflect these standards and as such are one of the first SUDS in Scotland that Scottish Water will be asked to adopt once development is complete. An example of the new technical standards for SUDS is the incorporation of 3.5m access path around the structure that is suitable for maintenance vehicles. This feature is uncommon in previously built SUDS.

Plate 3. Oudenarde Village SUDS. Plan and image showing basins and access path.

Reason to register: This, public and private partnership has successfully laid the foundations for a new village in a rural area on the outskirts of a thriving Scottish city where much needed affordable housing is required. The partnership hse consulted with the water authority to deliver best practice surface water drainage infrastructure that is designed to comply with current standards, ensuring that the structures will be adopted as an asset as part of the drainage network.

Reason why communication worked: The developer GS Brown has been one of the few proactive medium sized developers to implement sustainable drainage techniques since the inception of the philosophy in the mid 1990’s. They have developed working relationships with the housing association, Scottish Water and Local Authorities that rely on communication at all stages of the development. 

This ensures that best practice techniques are applied at all levels, from SUDS and biodiversity enhancement to resource efficient housing thus benefitting the new community in a sustainable and robust manner.