We were warned in early January that Hamilton Drive and Hamilton Terrace would shortly be closed perhaps for 3 weeks to allow the SUDS pond to drain into the street surface water system. A pipe would be laid to take it round the corner into the Drive and then away. All as planned.
Slight puzzle – would the drain be at the bottom so the pond never filled up or, as drawn, higher up so water flowed out only in times of spate, leaving a permanent pond. It would be permanent as the soil is barely permeable being the clay that supplied Portobello Brickworks and potteries. If a permanent pond it might have to be fenced off and life belts provided.
But all would be known once Scottish Water issued its permit to dig and connect. However, like another badly-laid plan, nothing had happened by 29 March. So now the new Park is marred in mud, a vast excavation made whose final form is not yet settled. Will there be green banks of colourful marsh flowers or will it be a scene of acute danger with high fences, minatory notices and life belts on sticks? Only Scottish Water knows and they ain’t telling.
So, storm clouds hover over static waters.
