A council contribution of £270,000 capital funding towards a flood protection scheme for Campbeltown will go forward to be considered as part of the budget process in the 2020/21 financial year.
This was agreed by the council’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday 5 December, which also approved the preliminary confirmation of the Campbeltown Flood Protection Scheme (CFPS).
The scheme involves a flood storage area in the Millknowe area of Campbeltown and a partial upsizing of the surface water culvert running down Dalaruan Street, from the proposed storage area. In addition surface water management will be implemented to other areas within the town at The Meadows and Burnside Street to further reduce the risk of flooding to the town.
Property Level Flood Protection will also be provided to some properties to improve the standard of protection offered by the scheme.
CFPS is the first such project to be promoted in Argyll and Bute under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) 2009 Act.
So far, its development has received £4.787m of Scottish Government funding out of a possible £9.33m scheme. The Scottish Government is expected to contribute 80% of the total funding, while the council will fund the remaining 20%.
Development of the scheme has been ongoing since 2017 with a series of events and consultations with the community and engagement with key stakeholders including SEPA, Scottish Water and affected landowners.
Councillor Robin Currie, Policy Lead for Housing, Roads and Infrastructure Services, said: “Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultations. This was invaluable in helping us find the best solution for reducing the risks of flooding in Campbeltown.
“We are now able to move towards developing business cases for the project and putting the works out to tender.”
Full details of the flood protection scheme can be found here: https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/consultations/campbeltown-flood-prevention-scheme