Councillors will next week (Thu, Jan 28) be asked to approve the progression of a scheme to protect Stonehaven from flooding.
It is designed to reduce risk in the lower catchment of the River Carron, which has badly flooded nearby homes and businesses in the past.
Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee is recommended to make a prelimary decision that the proposed scheme should go ahead with mitigation.
Recently, the proposed measures have been subject to public consultation, when eleven objections were received.
Officers involved in the project entered into negotiations with some objectors to try to address the issues they raised and if possible, modified the proposals to reach a suitable solution for all parties.
A number of the proposed modfications could result in the removal of several of the eleven outstanding objections. Councillors are being asked to approve progression of the scheme with the modifications and notify Scottish Ministers of their decision.
If objections remain unresolved, by law the council can only make a preliminary decision to either: confirm the proposed scheme without modification, confirm the proposed scheme with modification, or reject it.
Legislation dictates that if councillors decide to proceed with the scheme, with or without modification, Scottish Ministers must be notified.
Ministers then have to decide within 56 days whether to consider the scheme or refer it back to the council.
If Ministers decide to consider the scheme, a Public Local Inquiry will be held, unless all objections are withdrawn.
Should they not wish to consider the scheme, the matter will be referred back to Aberdeenshire Council to convene a Public Hearing.
Design work has been progressing on the £16 million project since councillors gave the go-ahead in December 2013.
Councillors previously agreed the Council should promote a formal Flood Protection Scheme for the town.
The Flood Protection Scheme (formal order) was promoted under the terms of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. Consultation as part of this process led to the objections being received.
The Order would provide the council with power to secure entry to the land required to build the scheme.
The council’s Policy and Resources Committee previously gave approval for funding of the scheme at an estimated value of £14-16million.
It also agreed to continue to pursue all possible funding opportunities from the Scottish Government.
You can see the objections to the Flood Protection Scheme for Stonehaven and officers’ responses to these in the committee report on the Aberdeenshire Council website.
For more information on the process being followed to implement a scheme, please see: http://bit.ly/1ZAaJCv