Town to miss out on flood defences
Cost prohibits defence measures
A potential flood management scheme for Coupar Angus has been ruled out until further notice for financial reasons.
The news came to light at the most recent meeting of Perth and Kinross Council’s environment committee, held on Wednesday last week in the Fair City.
At the meeting, elected councillors heard that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has come up with lists of ‘priority settlements’ across Scotland which highlights flood risk based on the chances of a one-in-200years event occurring.
Local authorities throughout Scotland are currently working on Flood Risk Management plans for their areas, which are due to be published before the end of June.
However, the report updating the environment committee indicated Coupar Angus won’t see active flood prevention measures taken any time soon.
The report stated: “Investigations into a flood protection scheme are now complete and have indicated that the scheme is unlikely to be economically viable and is therefore unlikely to be progressed.”
The decision was met with disappointment by representatives from the local community.
Chair of the Coupar Angus and Bendochy Community Council, Wendy McCombes, said: “It is a shame so little information is available to communities about how this decision was made by the environment committee.
“From the perspective of Coupar Angus, while there were relatively few premises flooded during the last big floods in January, a few more inches of water in the Coupar Burn would have seen about a third of the town inundated.
“While no houses were flooded on the River Isla side of town, the closure of the main Blairgowrie road for more than three days not only caused massive disruption and loss of trade but it also put in danger the lives of those stupid enough to drive into the water and those people who sought to rescue them.
“The cost of the road closure, repairs and attendance by the police and emergency services is huge. The environment committee is remiss in not pledging funds to erect depth gauges and barriers to enable the road to be closed very quickly once the river level rises to the critical level.’’
PKC Strathmore councillor, Dennis Melloy, commented: “The investigations into a flood scheme in Coupar Angus have recently been completed and the report from the senior engineer has indicated that the scheme is unlikely to be economically viable and is therefore unlikely to be progressed.
“At the meeting I suggested that it was very important that the community of Coupar Angus be informed of this decision and was told that two drop-in sessions were to be planned in July.
“I was very unhappy with the timing as most people will be on holiday then, and I am pleased to say that it has now been agreed that a later date perhaps August or September - would be more suitable.
“The proposal would be to hold two drop-in sessions in consecutive weeks and have officers present from 2-8pm on both days to answer questions. This should allow anyone who is at work to come along in the early evening.”
Councillor Alan Grant, who also represents Strathmore and is the convener of the environment committee, said: “Naturally I am sorry that the Coupar Angus flood defences did not satisfy the necessary criteria for funding.
“However, unless there is a dispassionate means of prioritising such schemes, chaos would result. On the other hand it is good news that a resilience group is being formed in Coupar Angus which will help in any future flood event.’’