Almost a year on from the day half of their gardens “disappeared” in “terrifying” landslip, Newtonhill residents are still waiting on Aberdeenshire Council for answers.
Those living on Murray Road in the village, which overlooks the beach, were woken early on August 12, 2020 to the sound of severe rainfall, and found that the clifftop street was flooding “like a river”.
When they looked across the road to their front gardens, they at first thought a vehicle had crashed across their land and down the cliff.
But as the situation became clearer, they realised that huge chunks of their gardens had been completely destroyed and washed down the cliff by the floodwaters.
Since then, the street and the remains of their gardens have been partially cordoned off by Aberdeenshire Council.
The local authority has told residents they are still assessing possible options for what to do about the damage, but those in Newtonhill say they fear further disasters could be coming with the poor weather of winter.
The landslip was on the same day that extreme weather in the region caused the landslip that resulted in the fatal derailment at Carmont, which resulted in the deaths of three men.
‘We could not believe what had happened’
Carly MacKenzie, whose garden was partially dragged down the cliff, said: “We woke up with the sound of the rain, and we went downstairs and saw we were having a flood in our kitchen.
“So we were busy trying to get rid of that water, and that’s when we noticed that our garden had disappeared.
“Everyone started coming out into the street.”
Her neighbour Heather Hopkins also lost a huge chunk of her garden.
She added: “When we looked out of the window we could not believe what had happened.
“I honestly thought a vehicle, probably a large vehicle, had come off the road and gone down the cliff, that’s what it looked like.
“But it was the pure force of water that had done that.
“It was like a river coming down the road, and then swirling round and down the cliff.
“It was very scary, terrifying.”
‘There’s the risk of repeat flooding, and repeat landslides’
Newtonhill residents have been writing to Aberdeenshire Council to ask the local authority to address the issue as a priority.
One resident, Peter Fisher, said: “I think we’re concerned that it’s now a year since the incident happened, and it seems unlikely that any action will be taken this year.
“And with the impending winter coming, there’s the risk of repeat flooding, and repeat landslides, and the concern is that the edge of the road may then be carried away.
“So there is an urgency to get the surveys done, to have a management plan, and get on with fixing it.
“It’s such a picturesque recreational area for Newtonhill.
“In the summer, the beach is full of people.
“There’s so many folk that have a stroll, ride their bikes, and push their prams along this road.
“So it’s a really quite busy area, along with the Braehead, which has just had a wonderful sculpture of a ship put up there.
“We’re really lucky living here, and we don’t want to see it spoiled.”
The council’s response
Meanwhile, Aberdeenshire Council say they have carried out some investigations to assess the extent of repair and prevention work required but that no action will be taken this year.
A spokesperson for the council said: “While our engineers have carried out initial investigations and suggested potential solutions, as the works are of a specialist geotechnical nature it is proposed that both the detailed investigatory works and groundworks will be tendered externally.
“As this process will take around six months from any decision to proceed, we can confirm that no works will take place on-site this calendar year.
“We appreciate the impact on residents and we remain grateful for the community’s patience. Every effort will be made to have this area reopened as soon as possible.”
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.