The owner of one of Stonehaven’s oldest businesses fears he may have to close when work begins on a £16 million flood scheme.
John Briggs, who runs a Persian carpet shop in the town, claims he will struggle to insure the building and customers in the shop while crews construct the new flood walls in the River Carron.
His insurance company has also told him his vast stock will not be protected during this period which means he will have to find alternative storage.
The work is expected to take about two years and will begin at the section of the water closest to the rug shop.
He also claims the property will be at risk of water ingress in the long-term, burdening him with ongoing maintenance costs.
The Bridgeview building has been a fixture of the town for centuries, with the lower level dating as far back as 300-years-ago.
Mr Briggs, who has been based at Bridgeview for two decades, said he has spent years battling with Aberdeenshire Council over the plans, and claims he has been hospitalised with stress.
He said: “My position at the moment is I’m faced with the prospect of being out of the building and I could end up with a building plagued with dampness.
“As a business I need to plan ahead, it’s very difficult in the current circumstances in retail. I have to live on my wits and make decisions on a daily basis.
“This flood scheme is an enormous unknown quantity. I was admitted to hospital with stress. I find it really difficult to talk about, it causes me a great deal of anxiety.”
The council’s policy and resources committee approved funding for the scheme in September 2014.
The authority has said it will reduce flood risk to 372 homes and a school located close to the Carron.
Last month it emerged that a tender had not been selected for the contract yet due to the number of bidders.
An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman said: “The Stonehaven Flood Protection Scheme has been developed with a significant amount of consultation and public scrutiny.
“The Scottish Government agreed that the scheme should progress following a public hearing in the town earlier this year and our focus now is on delivering a project that will benefit the town as a whole.
“While we have aimed to address as many concerns as possible throughout this process, at this stage we are not in a position to change our approach.”
Another well-known Stonehaven business has raised concerns about a lack of communication with those affected.
Lorraine Watson, owner of the Carron Fish Bar, has said the council is looking to take over a section of land where she keeps her waste and recycling during the construction phase.
However the authority has yet to provide her with an alternative place to store the 11 bins.
Mrs Watson said she also was unaware that the council was planning on building a viewing platform at her side of the bridge which will back onto her shop.
“If you look online at the visualisation where you can see how it’s going to look it doesn’t mention a viewing platform,” she said.
“It also looks like my air duct is going to be blocked which legally needs to be there so I’m not sure what’s going to happen.
“I’m loving the fact I’m going to have the platform there but I just think it’s a bit strange no one told me.
“It’s really important that the defence is put in place because the flooding is not going to stop, but I just think they could communicate better with people.
“I’ve been told they are going to hire a liaison officer who people can speak to, I think they’re going to have to have a thick skin and can’t imagine they’ll last very long.”
