Back Burn Restoration Project
Why restore the Back Burn?
The Back Burn has seen many changes over time due to its industrial heritage. Such changes have unfortunately impacted the health of the burn and surrounding environment. Historical modifications include artificial bed and bank protection, channel straightening and a series of weirs that pose barriers to fish migration. Many benefits can be derived from restoring watercourses to a more natural condition. Restoration helps to:
- Provide a more natural space for local people to enjoy
- Improve local resilience to climate change
- Support biodiversity including brown trout, otter, heron and more
- Allow fish passage by removing barriers
- Reduce flood risk, for instance through natural flood management
- Gain space for nature in a more urban environment
The works focus on improvements at Coul Den (in 2025) and Balbirnie Park (in 2026). This project page focuses on the works at Balbirnie Park.
Where is the project happening?
At Balbirnie Park, river restoration works are planned at a number of locations along the burn: These include:
- Removal of sections of stone and gabion (wire baskets with stones) bank protection to restore river banks and allow the river to function more naturally where possible
• Replacement of stone and gabion bank protection for more sustainable bank protection solutions that provide long-term erosion protection while minimising impacts to biodiversity
• Installation of ‘large wood’ structures (large pieces of natural wood like tree trunks) in the channel at Balbirnie to mimic the natural presence of wood in rivers, improving the habitat within the burn
Construction of ‘nature-like’ rock ramps, at barriers that cannot be fully removed (i.e. weirs and steep artificial channels) in the channel to mimic natural channel conditions and enable fish to move up and downstream more easily
There is also an additional opportunity to re-align a section of the burn into its historic channel. This would allow the river to flow naturally within its floodplain and create expanded and more connected habitat for freshwater species and those that rely on them.
See map below for the proposed works at Balbirnie Park.
Why is improving fish passage through the burn important?
The Back Burn is home to a population of native brown trout as well as other fish species, but the extent of the habitat they can move through is limited by man-made structures in the channel. The weirs in Balbirnie Park have been identified by ecologists as a barrier to trout migration, and therefore limit the amount of food available to them and gravels for spawning. Removing these barriers and re-aligning the burn to its natural channel will allow more fish to access a greater area of habitat, supporting their populations and increasing their resilience to future climate impacts.
What other benefits are there?
Nature
The changes will benefit the fish population as well as other wildlife that rely on them along the Back Burn. Realigning the channel to its natural course will also allow the river to flow and meander effectively, creating pools and riffles and areas of shade which all provide diverse habitat for fish and freshwater invertebrates and help the river to transport sediment naturally. There are records of kingfisher and otter recorded nearby, so these changes would improve food sources and habitat for these species and attract them to the area.
Additionally, the proposed route for the realigned channel would connect the burn with the nearby wildlife pond, creating greater habitat connectivity for wildlife to move around, and creating a flow of fresh water through the area. This will also make the pond more resilient to potential droughts in the future.
Community
This project provides an opportunity to bring investment into a much-loved local area. Opportunities for community benefit include expanding picnic areas and amenity features, improving paths and footbridges, creating new wildlife areas for locals to explore, and providing an attractive and better connected river and woodland landscape within the park for all to enjoy. The community will be invited to inform the placement and design of amenity features such as benches, bridges and artworks.
Climate
Rivers that are restricted to straightened, man-made channels often experience worse flooding and erosion issues. As climate impacts develop over the next few decades, flooding is likely to become more spontaneous and severe. A natural or restored watercourse has more resilience because it can move naturally within its channel rather than being constrained by concrete walls and gabions. The realigned channel proposed here would meander naturally through the existing woodland, allowing flood waters to fill the natural floodplain and interact with the shrubs and trees, to help to slow the flow of the water during times of flood. The realigned route would also intersect less with footpaths/bridges, meaning that people’s access through Balbirnie will be less impacted during times of flood. Where the burn will still intersect with the burn, sustainable and resilient crossings will be installed.
How do we know about the original channel?
We know from historic records that the Back Burn had been modified and straightened through Balbirnie Park, but detailed historic maps don’t go back far enough to show where this change occurred. A team of river morphologists and ecologists visited the Back Burn on several occasions over the past few years to investigate opportunities for restoration, and they discovered a dried-up riverbed running through the woodland to the north of the modified channel. When conducting a topographic survey, the team found that this dry riverbed is at the ‘topographic low’ of the valley, meaning the lowest point in the valley where water would naturally accumulate in a river. This confirms this the newly discovered riverbed is actually the historic channel where the Back Burn would once have flowed.
See below for visualisations of how the re-aligned channel could look.
Will the construction work disturb local wildlife and community access?
Qualified ecologists and fish specialists have recommended mitigations to minimise any disturbance to wildlife. We will work in the river between May – September to avoid disruption to fish breeding cycles, and rescue fish from sections of the river that will dry up and move them into the new channel.
An Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW) is also involved in the construction phase to monitor the ongoing works and ensure all ecological aspects of the site and works are considered on a day-to-day basis.
Community access must be managed carefully during construction for safety reasons, and there may be path closures throughout the working window of May – September 2026. All paths will be restored and improved wherever possible to reinstate public access to the same or better condition.
Will this affect the ‘Designed Landscape’ designation of Balbirnie Park?
Balbirnie Park is currently designated as a ‘Designed Landscape’. Historic Environment Scotland have provided the following reassurance that this designation will remain in place:
“The realignment proposals would not affect Balbirnie Park’s designation as an Inventory Garden & Designed Landscape. We consider that the proposed changes to the alignment of the Back Burn would not have a significant negative impact on the Inventory site. While the proposals would be a change, it would not have a significant impact on the key features, areas of contrived character or important views which contribute to the cultural significance of Balbirnie Park.”
As such, there is very low risk that the realignment work would result in removal of this designation or opening the park up to development in the future.
Who is undertaking this project and where is the funding coming from?
This project has been commissioned by Fife Council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), supported with funding from SEPAs Water Environment Fund (WEF). The Water Environment Fund works with partners throughout Scotland to improve rivers and have selected Back Burn as huge benefits can be made for the river, wildlife and people. The funding made available for Balbirnie Park through the realignment and river restoration project may attract match funding to increase investment in the area.
Fife Coast and Countryside Trust (FCCT) are managing the project on behalf of Fife Council and are working with sustainable river restoration specialists CBEC eco-engineering (leading on design). McGowan Environmental Engineering are the contractors appointed to deliver the groundworks. This work is delivered in conjunction with other initiatives in the Leven Programme, which included the completed River Leven restoration project in October 2024 and The Back Burn flowing through Coul Den in October 2025, both of which have involved the CBEC and McGowan teams.
The downloadable brochure below gives an overview of the planned works.
What are the next steps and timeframes?
The Balbirnie restoration works are planned for Summer 2026 between May and September. Until then, FCCT will be engaging with the community to collate feedback about the project
Community Engagement
We will be holding a series of community events in Balbirnie Park to hear from people about their ideas and thoughts for how we improve the area. Keep an eye on our events page for details. Please email ask.us@fifecountryside.co.uk if you have any questions about the Back Burn restoration projects.