Brae campus proposal puts drainage and car-park surfacing under scrutiny

What is proposed

Shetland Islands Council has submitted plans for a new Brae Campus bringing early learning and childcare, primary, secondary and enhanced learning provision together on the existing school site and an adjacent pitch. The application also includes car parking and external landscape areas.

Application 2026/192/PPF was received and validated on 8 September 2026. It remains Pending Consideration. The planning record does not show a decision or a construction timetable.

The drainage question

A council flooding and drainage consultation dated 18 September gives the proposal a useful early test. The submitted strategy uses two piped systems: one would discharge towards the burn west of the site and the other towards a drain with a short route to the sea. Each includes a below-ground attenuation tank and a filter drain.

The planning engineer said the calculations met the required approach for attenuating flows in a one-in-ten-year rainfall event. The overall drainage proposals were described as acceptable, and the layout as appearing resilient to surface-water flood risk.

That is not the same as a final planning approval. The consultation asks for construction details for the attenuation tanks, including throttling and overflow arrangements, and for other drainage components before work starts.

It also flags a specifically Shetland problem with the proposed permeable parking surfaces: winter salt and grit can create maintenance and performance difficulties. The consultee suggests discussing alternatives such as car-park gullies leading to filter drains.

For now, the public record establishes a major education proposal and a broadly acceptable drainage concept, alongside design details still to be resolved. It does not establish whether the suggested parking change will be required, when building would begin, or whether the campus will be approved.