An Aberdeenshire coastal village will have to wait for a storm defence scheme to be implemented due to a flood of bidders applying to carry out the work stalling the council’s tender process.
Work was due to begin this Summer on Stonehaven’s flood scheme, but because of the number of companies bidding on the £16 million contract a short list had to be compiled – meaning the start date has now “slipped”.
An estimated start date for the two-year project has now been given for Autumn.
£16million Stonehaven flood prevention scheme backed despite objections
Although she accepts local residents will be “disappointed” at the delay, Stonehaven councillor and local flood warden Wendy Agnew stressed that the work should be done “properly”.
She said: “A lot of people are waiting for this as every time the Carron rises up people get frightened.
“I witnessed the tragedies of the floods. People were in shock for a long time. They went through a very traumatic time.
“At £16 million the project is huge and we have to make sure the money is spent wisely. We do not want to scrimp on our flood defences.”
The council’s policy and resources committee approved funding for the scheme in September 2014.
It is designed to protect homes and businesses in the town that have previously been badly affected by flooding events around the River Carron, reducing flood risk to 372 homes and a school.
Liam Kerr, Scottish Conservative MSP for the north-east region, said: “Given the scheme will take around two years to complete, the sooner it can get going the better.
“However, the most important thing is that the council gets this right.
“That means making sure we have the best possible system in place and one that is best suited to the needs of the whole community.
“I think people would accept a longer timescale provided that the end result is an effective prevention system against future flood events.”
The council’s principal engineer Rachel Kennedy said she hoped the protections would be in place “at the earliest opportunity”.
She added: “While the timescale we initially predicted has slipped by a few months, that’s to be expected with a project of this size and complexity and given the significant level of interest from firms wishing to deliver the scheme on the council’s behalf.”