City Deal Cabinet approves funding for drainage plan to allow building of 22,000 new homes

The Glasgow City Region City Deal Cabinet today approved £3.17million of funding towards the next stage of the delivery of the £46million Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Plan (MGSDP), the creation of its full business case.

The MGSDP - seen as an exemplar project in and beyond the UK through its partnership working on urban flooding - was formed to tackle the deficiencies in Glasgow's drainage system.  It is expected that by the end of the project, the improvements delivered will bring an annual economic boost of over £65million to the city-region and allow the building of 22,000 new homes on brownfield sites whose development is currently not economically viable.

In addition, the work will reduce the risk of flooding for more than 7,000 existing properties and over 30km of roads, delivering an annual £2.3million reduction in average damages and a drainage capacity of 4,747 litres per second.

The key objective of the MGSDP - which will deliver these improvements in 14 areas all across Glasgow - is to help increase sustainable economic growth in the Glasgow city region by removing drainage constraints to regeneration, including the facilitation of the regeneration of vacant and derelict land, and increasing GVA through reducing the negative impact of flooding. The removal of drainage constraints has been recognised as key to increasing Glasgow's economic growth, in particular since the 2002 floods.

More recent national experience of flooding and its negative impact has emphasised the need for city regions to have robust flood defences and drainage provision in order to guard against negative economic consequences.

The project is a partnership between Glasgow City Council, Scottish Water, SEPA and other Clyde Valley local authorities.

Councillor Frank McAveety, Chair of the Glasgow City Region City Deal Cabinet, said: "The drainage plan will help to deliver 22,000 new homes, many new jobs and a huge economic boost to the Glasgow city region.  This plan is a great example of how City Deal funding can enable development that would otherwise not happen, bringing tremendous economic and social benefit.  This fantastic project will unlock a huge amount of the area's economic potential, and prevent the impact of flooding on residents and businesses."

The MGSDP is expected to release over 1.33million square metres of land for housing development; over 44,000 square metres for office development; and almost 30,000 square metres for industrial development.  This will attract businesses to locate in the Glasgow city region due to the available floorspace and labour force, increasing the area's productivity.

The green-blue infrastructure (infrastructure that works with the natural environment rather than against it) delivered by the MGSDP will support regeneration through flood mitigation, enhanced climate change resilience and unlocked development potential. In addition, the aesthetic, ecosystem and health benefits will act as a further catalyst for ongoing economic investment.

The locations in which the MGSDP work will take place include: Aikenhead Road / Overwood Drive; Baillieston / Garrowhill; Camlachie Burn; Cardonald / Hillington; Cardowan; Cockenzie Street; Croftfoot; Darnley Mains; Drumchapel; Fullarton Avenue; King's Park; high Knightswood / Netherton; and east Springburn.  In addition, the North Glasgow Integrated Water Management Scheme (a component of the MGSDP) will meet the surface water drainage needs of Sighthill, Dundas Hill, Cowlairs and Hamiltonhill around the Forth & Clyde Canal.

City Deal background

Since its first meeting in August 2015, the Glasgow City Region City Deal Cabinet has approved £82million of funding towards projects with a total value of £1.09billion.

The City Deal will bring tens of thousands of jobs to the Glasgow city region over the next few decades through 20 major infrastructure projects; drive innovation and growth through the support of key sectors such as life sciences; and address challenges in the region's labour market.  

Both the UK and Scottish Governments will give the Glasgow and Clyde Valley local authorities £500million each in grant funding for the City Deal, and the local authorities will borrow a further £130million to use for capital investment.

The City Deal is expected to give the Glasgow city region a permanent uplift in its GVA of £2.2billion per annum (4.4%); generate 15,000 construction jobs during the construction period and 28,000 permanent additional jobs once construction is complete; and will unlock £3.3billion of private sector investment.

Local Authority partners

The eight local authorities participating in the Glasgow City Region City Deal are: East Dunbartonshire Council; East Renfrewshire Council; Glasgow City Council; Inverclyde Council; North Lanarkshire Council; Renfrewshire Council; South Lanarkshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Council.