A Deeside community organisation has urged Aberdeenshire Council to give a storm-hit village “the priority it deserves”.
Ballater Flood Group has written to the authority’s chief executive, Jim Savege, following a row around the rebuilding of a bund at Ballater Golf Club which collapsed on December 30.
The ensuing flooding left more than 300 homes and 60 businesses in the village in ruins.
The council started the process of rebuilding the flood bank back to its original state last week, despite calls from the group for a redesign, taking account of the changed river channel.
And last night, coordinator for the flood group, Tony Cox, claimed its proposals for protecting Ballater were not being considered by the local authority.
They are fighting to have “short term” alleviation measures put in place around the village, and had originally hoped they could be implemented this winter.
Among the ideas proposed by the flood group is limited clearance work to the river and a Hesco barrier levee running from Sluivannachie, near the breach point on the golf course, to Ballater’s Royal Bridge.
Mr Cox added: “The flood group is fairly fixated on getting Ballater as high a priority as is reasonable on the basis of suffering the worst damage, per head of population, of any place in the UK – ever.
“I don’t know what you have to do to impress upon people that Ballater should have the highest priority.
“We’re not going to stop making that point until somebody acknowledges it and affords Ballater the priority it must have.
“We acknowledge we don’t have total wisdom, but it is reasonable to expect both sides to engage. We are not about to give up.”
A spokesman for the council said: “We do continue to engage and consult with the local community whilst listening to the ideas of the flood group.”
The council is currently working with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and is committed to a large-scale assessment of the River Dee’s channel before tabling any plans for a flood defence scheme.
The local authority has previously said the impact any defences in Ballater may have on communities down river would have to be assessed. It is also progressing a flood protection study for Ballater.
