Campaigners have voiced concerns after learning that the installation of flood defences in a storm-hit Aberdeenshire village will take longer than envisaged.
Residents of the Kembhill Park area of Kemnay were hoping that a bund which stops at a local pumping station would be extended along the River Don.
They have claimed it was this gap in the flood defence which caused the water to flow from the river into their homes, ruining roughly 20 of them on January 7.
The council has recorded that 47 homes in Kemnay flooded when the Don broke its banks during the deluge, but locals believe the figure is nearer 62.
The Kembhill Park Flood Prevention and Resilience Group have called for the bund to be built up as soon as possible.
But they have been told work could not get underway unless Kemnay was designated as a potentially vulnerable area by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Members have held talks with Aberdeenshire Council, who are entering into negotiations with Sepa and Scottish Water about a possible defence along the Don.
But progress on the project has stalled, causing frustration for Kemnay residents.
Ken Ledingham, chairman of the group, said: “What the council explained to us is that, by law, they are not allowed to carry out work unless the village or Kembhill Park is on the Sepa PVA list.
“At the moment we are not, despite the fact we have been flooded. Philip McKay (the council’s head of roads and landscape services) has spoken to Sepa to see if we could be upgraded to the “at-risk” register.
“He was hoping they could get that put forward a bit. If they were to get Scottish Water and Sepa to agree to it, a bund could be built along the path to protect both the sewage works and houses.
“So we have got some progress. It is not going to happen tomorrow and the folk here obviously would like there to be a barrier in place now.
“But the council have to go through the legal process, so it is going to take a bit longer than they (the residents) would have liked.”
A Sepa spokesman responded: “The process and timescales for identification of PVAs is set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 and it is a cyclical process.
“There is no mechanism or opportunity for SEPA or Scottish ministers to designate new PVAs.
“The deadline for publication of the next national flood risk assessment (NFRA), which includes the outcome of the review of PVAs, is December 2018.
“The NFRA will be subject to public consultation before it is finalised and published.
“Designation as a PVA at this stage does not prevent the council from deciding whether or not to take further action.”
