09 June 2016

Huntly flood scheme

A £3 million scheme to protect Huntly from flooding has been given a boost today, with news of a dedicated team to work on the project.

Today (Thursday 9th June 2016), Aberdeenshire Council’s Policy and Resources Committee agreed a “shared service arrangement” with Moray Council, which will result in a dedicated site supervision team being created, working with the contractor to deliver the construction elements of the important scheme.

It will be led by a project manager who will manage the contract, delivering the works to budget, programme, and quality. The project itself will include work to replace culverts, construction of embankments and water storage options.

Today committee agreed the terms of the shared agreement, allowing both authorities to begin working together to source the on-site team in the coming months.

Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee Cllr Martin Kitts-Hayes said: “Aberdeenshire Council has been working to implement a flood protection scheme in Huntly for a number of years and as such I am delighted to see that we are now in a position to dedicate a site team to this vital piece of infrastructure”.

Co-leader of Aberdeenshire Council Richard Thomson said: “It is my hope that the Huntly community will be supportive of this decision which signals a positive stage in the process of protecting them against future weather events.

Councillor John Cowe, who chairs Moray Council’s economic development and infrastructure services committee, said: “We are very pleased to be helping out Aberdeenshire Council by seconding a member of staff who has been heavily involved in our own programme of flood alleviation schemes over recent years. It is fair to say that Moray Council has unparalleled experience and expertise in this type of work and we are only too happy to be sharing that with a neighbouring authority which in recent times has had its own problems with flooding.

“The Scottish Government is keen to see councils sharing services wherever possible and this is a very good example of that type of inter-authority co-operation.”

It is hoped that the team can start work on site in August, and the project is estimated to take 8 months to complete.