SNP said no to vital river defence
SNP ministers said no to a £15million flood defence plan for one of the communities devastated by Storm Frank.
Dumfries and Galloway Council, which has seen some of the worst damage, said it had a bid rejected in March 2014 for a flood defence scheme for Whitesands.
It had asked the Scottish Government to provide 80 per cent of the money needed for a 4¼ft (1.3metre) embankment, with an additional 3ft (1m)-high pane of glass, in March 2014, but was turned down.
Colin Smyth, chairman of the council’s economy, environment and infrastructure committee, said: ‘Last week’s flood reached one metre at that point, so it would have prevented it no problem at all.’
Yesterday, finance secretary John Swinney insisted he had provided ‘adequate’ funding for all councils to protect homes and businesses.
COSLA, the umbrella group for Scottish councils, said it was ‘bemused’ by the claim.
The Scottish Government is cutting funding for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), which has responsibility for flood management, from £3 million to £36.6million in 201617. Mr Swinney insisted the cut to SEPA had not affected its flood forecasting service.
The Scottish Government has failed to increase the £42million it gives to councils for flood defences annually since 2008. Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Swinney said there was adequate funding for all 42 flood prevention schemes that were proposed for the period 2016-21.
However, a COSLA spokesman said councils had received no assurances about funding for flood defences beyond next year.
Yesterday, Richard Lochhead, environment minister, visited Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, Brechin in Angus, and Perth, saying he was struck by an ‘amazing sense of community spirit’.
A Scottish Government spokesman said the Whitesands project had not met ‘basic eligibility requirements’ for funding in 2014.
She added: ‘A scheme for the Whitesands is included in the recently published Flood Risk Management Strategy for the Solway, and funding will be available to the council via the local government settlement to begin work on the scheme when it is ready to do so.’