Bid to prevent Scottish floods approved

Donna McAllister in the Press and Journal (UK): An £88million flood-prevention scheme that aims to protect hundreds of homes and businesses in Moray won approval from Scottish Government ministers yesterday. The Elgin project has been designed to respond to a long history of flooding problems in the town.

But last night the scheme’s construction programme remained uncertain. Moray Council’s deputy convener Allan Wright said the local authority needed “long-term funding assurances” from the Scottish Government before the scheme could be built.

The Elgin Flood Alleviation Scheme went before a public inquiry in September 2009 and resulted in minor changes being made to downstream sections of the project at Barmuckity. That same month more than 100 people were forced to leave their homes and businesses at Elgin after torrential rain battered the area. Flooding also occurred in 1997, 2000, 2002….

A flood-prone stretch of the River Lossie, shot by Anne Burgess, Wikimedia Commons via Geograph UK, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license