Discover Kirkmahoe
Further thoughts on the Whitesands Project from David Slater
Have you wondered why it is taking 43 months to build a bund.
Well this is why, in real term that is nearly four years. If the timeline rises will the costs rise as well,as 43 months is very exact ,who will be responsible for any uplift of any additional costs if the timeline exceeds the 43 weeks ?
The long construction time isn’t a mystery. It’s baked into the design.
A. Massive earthworks on unstable ground
A bund is not “just a mound of earth”. On the Whitesands it requires:
• Excavating deep into a high‑permeability aquifer
• Installing cut‑off walls or membranes to slow groundwater
• Laying drainage layers, pipes, and gravel beds
• Compacting thousands of tonnes of imported fill
• Building retaining structures to hold the bund in place
• Constructing the raised walkway, ramps, steps, and parapets
• Relocating utilities, sewers, and services buried under the car park
This is slow, sequential work. You cannot rush it without risking structural failure.
B. The groundwater problem multiplies the complexity
Because Dumfries sits on a saturated aquifer:
• Every excavation fills with water
• Pumps must run constantly during construction
• Ground conditions change with tides and rainfall
• Engineers must stabilise the ground before building anything on it
This alone adds months — sometimes years — to earthworks projects.
C. The bund requires continuous on‑site construction
Unlike prefabricated systems, a bund must be built in situ, layer by layer.
You cannot build it offsite. You cannot speed it up with modular components.
D. Traffic, access, and disruption slow everything further
The Whitesands is a constrained urban site. Construction must be staged:
• One section at a time
• With traffic management
• With pedestrian diversions
• With utility diversions
• With archaeological monitoring
All of this stretches the timeline.
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2. Why a rising wall can be built in months
This is the part the council never highlights.
A. Rising walls are prefabricated
Most of the engineering happens offsite:
• Steel frames
• Hydraulic or mechanical lifting systems
• Foundations
• Panels
• Control units
These are manufactured in controlled factory conditions, not in a muddy aquifer.
B. On‑site work is minimal
Installation typically involves:
• Pouring a reinforced concrete foundation
• Installing the prefabricated wall units
• Connecting the hydraulic or mechanical system
• Testing and commissioning
This is measured in weeks or months, not years.
C. No massive earthworks
A rising wall does not require:
• Importing thousands of tonnes of fill
• Re‑grading the entire riverside
• Building a raised promenade
• Excavating deep into groundwater
It avoids the slowest, most disruptive parts of the Whitesands scheme.
D. No permanent loss of views or heritage
Because the wall is invisible when not in use, it preserves:
• The open riverside
• Views to Devorgilla Bridge
• The historic setting
• The car park and public space
And it does so with a fraction of the construction time.
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3. The real risk: a long build for a low‑standard defence
This is the uncomfortable truth:
• Four years of disruption
• Permanent loss of the riverside
• A 1‑in‑75 standard
• A pump‑dependent system vulnerable to failure
• A bund that cannot be removed if it underperforms
Meanwhile, rising walls:
• Deliver higher protection standards
• Are faster to install
• Are less disruptive
• Are proven internationally
• Do not rely on pumps to fight groundwater the maintenance on it is virtualy zero.
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NithLife are mobilising with The Rivers Trust to survey rivers in The Big River Watch.
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Could you take 15 mins to watch any spot on the river and upload your observations using a mobile app?
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Survey at your leisure any time between 24th and 30th April 2026.
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Step 1: Download the app
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https://theriverstrust.org/take-action/the-big-river-watch
Download the free Big River Watch mobile app before visiting the river. -
Step 2: Complete the survey by your river
Spend 15 minutes watching the river, and answer the questions in the survey. You can complete the Big River Watch at your favourite local spot, or get to know somewhere new. The survey will ask you about what you see, from wildlife and plants to any signs of pollution. Not sure what you're looking at? The in-app pollution and wildlife guides can help you make an identification. -
Step 3: Upload your survey
Press submit, and upload your Big River Watch survey!
If you do take part, Nith Life would love to know about it.
Whitesands Project
By David Slater
A major flood‑protection bund project in Dumfries is moving ahead despite strong opposition from thousands of local residents. People feel their concerns have not been meaningfully considered, even though the scheme will significantly alter the town for years.
Key concerns raised by the community
• Environmental loss — The project requires removing mature riverside trees and converting green space into a car park.
• Heritage impact — A large engineered structure is planned to be attached to the Grade A listed Devorgilla Bridge.
• Economic and social disruption — Dumfries is already struggling with business closures, and the loss of the busiest riverside car park, long construction works, and relocation of public toilets could further reduce footfall in key shopping areas.
• Questionable effectiveness — The design is around 16 years old, may be 20 years old by completion, and is built only to a 1‑in‑75‑year standard. Residents say it appears to lack recommended climate‑change freeboard.
• Groundwater issues — Dumfries sits on a large aquifer, meaning groundwater rises independently of the river. The bund will not stop this, so the scheme relies heavily on electric pumps to control underground water. Pump‑failure flood events elsewhere raise concerns about reliability.
• Escalating costs — The project’s estimated cost has risen from around £12 million to nearly £70 million.
• Uneven protection — Areas like Dock Park and the boathouse will still be vulnerable to flooding despite the scale and cost of the works.
Overall sentiment
Residents feel the project brings many long‑term negatives — environmental damage, heritage risks, economic harm, and engineering uncertainties — while offering limited and potentially unreliable protection. The central frustration is that such a significant scheme is proceeding against the clear will of a large part of the community.
Kirkmahoe Community Council Meeting
The next meeting of Kirkmahoe Community Council will be on Wednesday 15th April at 7.30pm in Dalswinton Hall.
Everyone is welcome
Please find attached a copy of the agenda, minutes and treasurer's report
Jean Muir
Secretary
A new system has been launched across Dumfries and Galloway giving residents a single place to report potholes, pavement problems and streetlighting faults.
Called FixMyStreet Pro, the platform is designed to make reporting issues quicker and more straightforward. Using an interactive map, residents can pinpoint the exact location of a problem, upload photos and check if it has already been reported nearby.
The system also allows users to sign up for email updates, meaning they can track progress without needing to contact the council. It is mobile-friendly and can be saved to a phone’s home screen for quick access when out and about.
All reported issues will appear on the map, although not all will be repaired straight away. Lower priority defects, known as P4 and P5, may not meet the threshold for repair but will still be recorded and monitored through inspections.
Residents are also being reminded that reporting the same issue multiple times will not speed up repairs, which continue to be prioritised based on safety and available resources.
The council says the new system aims to improve transparency, reduce duplicate reports and make it easier for people to see what is already being dealt with locally.
Apologies everyone. The QR code on the poster ran out today!
I know someone is trying to book a slot. The poster on Facebook is updated and that link is working but if you are trying to book from last week's poster I am afraid the QR link is not working. If you did put a poster up anywhere or share it there is an new poster attached below.
Beavers as ecosystem engineers
Sorry for the inconvience.
Regards
Nith Life
Nith Life is a registered charity SCO53508
Nith Life new code for beaver meeting
The forgotten and neglected aquifer in Dumfries
by David Slater
That is where the river water should be flowing .
At one time the swans could swim right up to the wall on the Sands.
Now the river water is around 15.metres out from the wall .
Today I want to draw your attention to something we rarely see, yet it shapes every decision we make about flooding in this town. Beneath our feet lies one of Scotland’s most significant groundwater bodies — the Dumfries Basin Aquifer. It is not an abstract geological curiosity. It is the foundation on which Devorgilla Bridge stands, the reason Whitesands behaves the way it does, and the quiet force that governs how Dock Park floods and drains.
Let me explain this in plain terms.
Dumfries is built on a natural sponge. The Permian sandstone and breccia beneath us store vast amounts of fresh water. Above that sits a layer of loose river gravels and sands — extremely permeable material that allows water to move freely between the ground and the River Nith.
At Devorgilla Bridge, the river cuts directly into these permeable layers. This creates a strong hydraulic connection. When the river rises, water pushes sideways and downward into the ground. When the river falls, groundwater drains back slowly. This is why the area around the bridge responds quickly to flooding, but recovers slowly.
At Whitesands, we sit on the lowest and most porous part of the floodplain. Floodwater doesn’t simply sit on the surface — it sinks into the ground. And after the river drops, water can rise back up from below. This is why Whitesands often remains wet long after the visible flood has gone. It is not just a surface‑water issue. It is a groundwater‑surface water interaction zone.
And at Dock Park, we have the broadest, flattest part of the floodplain — a natural storage bowl. Historically, this area absorbed and slowed floodwater. Because the ground is permeable, Dock Park helps reduce peak flows by allowing temporary infiltration into the aquifer. It drains slowly, which is why it often stays wet long after the river recedes.
These three locations — Devorgilla Bridge, Whitesands, and Dock Park — are not separate problems. They are three expressions of one living water system.
And that brings me to the heart of the matter.
If we design flood protection that treats Dumfries as if it were built on impermeable clay, we will fail. Hard walls can stop surface water, but they cannot stop groundwater rising from below. Many towns with similar geology have learned this the hard way.
But there is good news. Because of our permeable floodplain and our active aquifer, Dumfries is exceptionally well‑suited to nature‑based, heritage‑friendly solutions.
Wetlands. Flood meadows. Riparian woodland. Reconnected floodplain areas. Permeable public spaces. Upstream natural storage. These approaches work with the groundwater system, not against it. They protect our heritage, enhance our landscape, and deliver long‑term resilience without the unintended consequences that hard engineering can create on permeable ground.
Colleagues, we have a choice. We can continue to fight the natural system beneath us, or we can work with it. We can impose walls on a living floodplain, or we can design solutions that respect the geology, the river, and the heritage that define Dumfries.Understanding the hidden water beneath this town is not a technical detail. It is the key to protecting our people, our history, and our future.
Nith Life Meeting
Beavers
Hello Nith Life supporters,
The attached document has the details of the March meeting of Nith Life at The Bridge in Dumfries.
Scotland does not have wild lynx and wolves. We do have beavers for rewilding!
Following 20 years of dedicated research by Nature Scot the results convinced the Scottish Government to publish a National Strategy to identify and expand the beaver population to new catchments alongside appropriate management and mitigation.
As beavers are most suited to upland areas where agricultural practice is less industrialised, and are proven ecosystem engineers, might there be a substantial niche for them in the upper reaches of the Nith catchment as well as much of Galloway?
And would we then still need an expensive Whitesands flood prevention scheme!!!
We have two speakers for this event, Patrick Cook and Emily Simpson both PhD students from Stirling University Faculty of Natural Science. Patrick Cook’s main focus is on how pollinators respond to beaver wetlands and Emily Simpson specialises in researching beaver ponds as nature-based solutions for carbon storage.
The meeting will be in The Bridge in Dumries 31st March 6pm to 8pm. There are limited places, so please book your place through Eventbrite using this link here.
Regards
Nith Life
If you wish to be removed from the Nith Life mailing list please reply to this email with the word Unsubscribe.
Nith Life is a registered charity SCO53508
Nith Life Meeting and questionnaire
The Climate Conversation meeting on Tuesday was a great success. It was a lively meeting with many different points being made about the impacts of climate change on people's mental health. We were asked to descibe changes that we seen in the area that we associate with climate change and how we feel about it. Included in the issues raised were the impact of major flooding events, the disappearance of salmon from the Nith, the Whitesands flood prevention scheme and of course pot holes, as well as other drought or flooding problems out and about in the South of Scotland.
Rhiannon has given us a link to a questionaire to share with those who were unable to make the meeting.
Mental Health and Climate Change Community Questionnaire: – Fill out form
Regards
Nith Life
Nith Life is a registered charity SCO53508
First look at planned restoration of Robert Burns family home
from the national scot
THE family home of Robert Burns is set to be refurbished through plans for a “quiet and sensitive restoration” of the Category A-listed building.
Ellisland Farm, located near Dumfries, was built and designed by Burns in 1788 and became his family home where he wrote over a quarter of his works, including Auld Lang Syne and Tam o’ Shanter.
Whitesands Legal Challenge Collective
Protect Dumfries — Support a Lawful Challenge
We are raising funds to obtain specialist legal advice — and, if necessary, seek interim interdict and pursue Judicial Review — in relation to the Whitesands Flood Scheme.
Our concerns focus specifically on:
• Failure to comply with Section 75(2) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
• Potential breaches of Section 104 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015
• The lawful handling of inalienable Common Good land
If Section 75(2) has not been properly complied with, the Council cannot lawfully proceed with works affecting Common Good assets. Court intervention could require the Council to halt progress until statutory consent is sought and determined — a process that may involve full judicial scrutiny and further public representations.
This challenge is about legality, transparency, and proper process — nothing more, nothing less.
All funds will be used solely for legal advice and associated expert input.
If the full amount is not required, surplus funds will be refunded to donors on a pro-rata basis.
How You Can Help
1. Donate what you can
2. Share this page
3. Stand with us
Together, we can protect Dumfries’ future.
This is our town. Our river. Our heritage. Our responsibility.
Let’s make sure the flood scheme — and the Section 75 process behind it — is done properly, lawfully, and with respect for the place we love.
Whitesands LCC
from Coach and Horses Facebook Page
Up to £38 Million Contract Awarded to Advance Whitesands Flood Scheme
Dumfries & Galloway Council has announced that McLaughlin & Harvey has been appointed to carry out work on the proposed Whitesands Flood Protection Scheme in Dumfries.
The council confirmed the contract is valued at up to £38 million. Full approval for the project is still pending.
The scheme aims to provide protection for homes and businesses along the River Nith while also creating new public space.
According to the council, the project will include a combination of flood defences and public realm improvements. Preparatory work has already taken place, including invasive ground investigations in 2024.
Further details, including final approval and timescales, will be confirmed in due course.
The council has published a full statement, which can be read here: https://www.dumfriesandgalloway.gov.uk/news/2025/ps38-million-contract-awarded-advance-flood-scheme-full-approval-pending
Editor’s note: This article was updated on 19 September 2025 to reflect Dumfries and Galloway Council’s official press release clarifying that full approval of the scheme is still pending.
article from Dgwgo.com
