Water voles are being trapped and relocated so green infrastructure works can take place in the East End

This week Glasgow City Council awarded a £6m contract to RJ McLeod to create new drainage in the east end.

Officers informed the meeting works were ongoing on the site to trap fossorial water voles inhabiting the grass.

It is understood the new drainage works – which includes ponds – will create a happier living condition for the threatened species.

“They are Fossorial water voles and they are a unique subspecies and what we believe to have happened is they were there since the Monklands Canal flowed through that part if the city,” a council officer told the Contracts and Property Committee.

It is understood the species has evolved to live on the grassland.

The canal was filled in when M8 was first constructed more than 50 years ago in 1965.

Water voles have been present in Glasgow for hundreds of years and they have been recorded in wetlands including ditches, marshes, ponds, burns and canals.

The council website states: “On completion these green infrastructure sites will provide water voles with additional habitat, but some animals have had to be caught and moved to allow the works to happen.

“Relocation of animals has been carried out by ecological consultants under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage and these water voles have been re-homed close to their original location, as part of a nature conservation plan.”

The committee agreed to hand the contract for the drainage works to RJ McLeod (Contractors) Limited.

The Cardowan Surface Water Management Plan will focus in the city’s east end in the Blairtumnock and Westerwood area as well as Cranhill and Ruchazie.

It is part of the Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Draining Plan (MGSDP), a £46m programme of infrastructure to improve drainage across the city.

Councillor Frank Docherty, committee member and ward councillor for East Centre welcomed the progress.

He said: “This is a good news story, it’s substantial investment not just in Cranhill but in all East End areas.

“It’ll help our schools, communities, job opportunities, voluntary sector and more.

“I’d like to give massive congratulations to all of those involved in getting us here.”

The MGSDP is also expected to make room for more than 22,000 new houses citywide.

It will reduce flooding risk for more than 7,000 homes, 18 miles worth of roads and eventually have a drainage capacity of 4,747 litres per second.

There is a wider goal to increase sustainable economic growth across the city.