Invergowrie Primary Pupils Dig Deep for Green Car Park

Pupils from Invergowrie Primary School got their hands dirty last week when they took part in a flower and tree planting session aimed at sustainably managing rain water at Scottish Water’s Bullion House office car park.

The group of 32 pupils from Primary 6 and the Eco Group helped to plant three apple trees and over 60 bedding flowers as part of a pilot retrofit project to reduce the risk of flooding at the site via the creation of tree pits, rain gardens and permeable paving.

These measures help to manage rainwater more effectively, by encouraging it to flow into natural features – often referred to as ‘blue green’ infrastructure - instead of the combined sewer network.

Emma Sands, from Scottish Water’s Flooding Team, led the visit for the pupils.

She said: "It was great to have the pupils visit and get them involved with planting to celebrate the completion of our storm water retrofit project in the car park. The children were great at testing out the new surfaces - pouring the watering cans over the permeable resin, and watching the water soak away was a real highlight.

“We showed the children construction photos of how the garden was built, and described how the below-ground soil crates were built to house the trees and soak up rainwater. The pupils were engaged, asked lots of thoughtful questions and were keen to hear more about the green ways we deal with surface water to try and reduce the impact of storms and climate change on the sewers.