Flooding schemes axed

COUNCIL: Coupar Angus and Bankfoot defences ‘not worth the millions they’d cost’

Perthshire communities have expressed disappointment after the council pulled the plug on long-awaited work to protect them from flooding.

Schemes in Coupar Angus and Bankfoot have been ditched after the local authority admitted they were not worth the millions of pounds they would have cost.

The main road between Coupar Angus and Blairgowrie was closed for days last winter.

Wendy McCombes, chairwoman of Coupar Angus and Bendochy Community Council, said: “It is unfortunate... the community council understands the frustration of home and business owners and is still in communication with the council.” Ten Bankfoot homes are now uninhabitable. Perth and Kinross Council’s flooding team spokesman said: “The cost of flood damage avoided over time must be greater than the cost of building the flood defences.”

Council bosses are poised to pull the plug on flood defences work planned for two Perthshire communities.

Projects proposed for Bankfoot and Coupar Angus are being scrapped after analysts revealed costs could run into millions of pounds.

Perth and Kinross Council has been working on the plans for several years. Homes were evacuated when both communities were badly hit during torrential downpours in 2004.

Last year saw five homes swamped in Bankfoot and more flooding in and around Coupar Angus, with the main road between the town and Blairgowrie closed for days.

Following an extensive study by consultants CH2M, the council believes neither plan is “economically viable”.

Water containment work at Bankfoot alone is estimated at £13.6 million and is just one of a range of options considered.

The consultants’ assessment also rules that dredging Coupar Angus burn would be around £1.8 million.

Environment committee members will next week be urged to rubber-stamp the death of both schemes.

The council would however continue protection efforts as set out in the Tay Flood Risk Management Strategy.

In a report to councillors, a flooding team spokesman stated: “CH2M considered 11 potential options for managing flood risk in Bankfoot and these were evaluated against various technical, environmental and economic criteria.

“In general, the cost of flood damage avoided over time must be greater than the cost of building the flood defences.”

He said the Bankfoot scheme did not score a high benefit/cost ratio.

Jane Bechtel, Auchtergaven Community Council chairwoman, said: “I can’t say I’m happy about this...I’m not.

“But it is what we were expecting would happen. The simple fact is there isn’t the money to go ahead with the scheme at Bankfoot or anywhere else.

“However, now that we know that the main work isn’t going to happen, we can go ahead and look at smaller scale flood prevention works for the area.”

Wendy McCombes, chairwoman of Coupar Angus and Bendochy Community Council, said: “The community council understands the frustration of home and business owners and is still in communication with the council about the possible re-siting of pipes over the Coupar Burn, the clearance of debris from the burn and also ensuring households along the burn keep the edges of the burn free from potential debris.”

In general, the cost of flood damage avoided over time must be greater than the cost of building the flood defences. FLOODING TEAM SPOKESMAN