The Whitesands Project – which will deliver the Whitesands Flood Protection Scheme – is designed to protect homes, businesses and key infrastructure from flooding, while enhancing and maintaining the riverside area for everyone in Dumfries.
Following recent media coverage, online discussion and requests for the council to explain its position in more detail, we want to set out the facts about common good land within the Whitesands Project area.
We are neither appropriating nor disposing of the land and will continue to manage it on behalf of the community.
The land will remain in council ownership and continue to be held as common good land throughout the project and after completion. Following completion of the works, it will remain within the public realm and retain its status as open public space.
In 2014, the council’s Common Good Sub-Committee approved the use of common good land for the management and delivery of the flood-protection works associated with the then-proposed Whitesands Flood Protection Scheme.
We have taken external legal advice from Scott Blair, an advocate at Terra Firma Chambers in Edinburgh and a recognised specialist in common good law.
Having considered his opinion, our position remains that neither the 2014 decision nor the current delivery of the scheme involves the appropriation or disposal of common good land.
Where common good land is involved, the Whitesands Project will help protect, improve and safeguard it for future generations. The council considers that addressing the long-standing risk of flooding is consistent with its duty to protect and advance the common good.
Separately, recent decisions by the Scottish Information Commissioner do not concern the legality of the 2014 decision or the current delivery of the Whitesands Flood Protection Scheme.
In response to the Commissioner’s decisions, we have now carried out additional searches for information and issued our responses to the relevant requester. We will continue to cooperate with the Commissioner’s requirements.
The £68.6 million project will provide a 1 in 75-year standard of flood protection. It will also create improved walkways, landscaping and public spaces along the River Nith.
A council commitment of £13.7 million has secured £54.9 million from the Scottish Government for the project.
We recognise that people have different views about the Whitesands Project. We will continue to provide clear and accurate information about the work, its progress and what it will deliver for the people and businesses of Dumfries.
More information: Whitesands Project webpage
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