Councillors support scheme to stabilise slopes overlooking Stonehaven harbour
£5.7million plan to make Bervie Braes safe wins backing
Published:
Councillors have backed a multimillion-pound plan to stabilise the steep slopes overlooking a north-east coastal town.
Members of Kincardine and Mearns area committee had deferred a decision on safety improvements to the Bervie Braes at Stonehaven until the public had been consulted.
Following a public meeting late last year, councillors yesterday supported a £5.7million “soil nailing” scheme which could ensure the safety of the unstable braes for more than 100 years. Members decided to retain a single-track road and cycle path along the braes towards Dunnottar Castle, rejecting the possibility of returning to the previous two-way route. Eight options for the braes, ranging from £250,000 to £8.9million, had been put forward by geotechnical firm Jacobs.
Councillors and local residents agreed with the experts’ recommended option of driving “nails” into the ground to keep the soil in place. The public exhibition was attended by 73 Stonehaven residents and 53 questionnaires were filled in, indicating that reducing the long-term risk of a landslide was the biggest concern.
Stonehaven councillor Mike Sullivan said the responses of 53 people were “very unlikely” to be representative of a town with a population of more than 10,000. The unstable slope has not shifted dramatically since a landslide which sent 2,000 tonnes of sand and rubble tumbling into the harbour 50 years ago.
Since then efforts have been made to stabilise Bervie Braes, including a wall and sheet-metal piling but monitoring over the last 15 years has revealed a number of “local slips”.
Council project manager William Murdoch said yesterday the local authority did not own the slopes and had no obligation or funding to do stabilisation work. Local councillor Wendy Agnew said: “My worry is if you don’t do that and there is a landslip in which people lose their lives, you knew there was a problem and you would be liable.”
The issue will now go before the infrastructure services committee before the local authority submits a request for funding to the Scottish Government.
