'Local Hero' landslide fight hit by cost crisis

Published on Thursday 22 January 2009 21:09

VITAL work to protect the Local Hero village of Pennan from the threat of devastating landslides may have to be delayed because of soaring costs, it was revealed yesterday.

The residents of the Aberdeenshire coastal community, made famous 26 years ago in Bill Forsyth's film, are still waiting for work to begin on a cliff stabilisation scheme 18 months after a series of landslides came perilously close to bringing disaster to the village.

In August 2007, a tide of waterlogged soil threatened to engulf the village as a torrent of mud and water swept down from the cliffs above the village in ten separate landslips.

Work to stabilise the cliffs that tower over Pennan was expected to begin later this year, after the Scottish Government agreed to inject 500,000 into the scheme.

But a report has now revealed that no construction work will be authorised at the village until additional funding can be secured to meet rising costs.

Ken Morrison, Aberdeenshire Council's head of roads, states in his report to next Tuesday's meeting of the Banff and Buchan area committee that an initial estimate of the cost of the work required was put at around 600,000.

An approach was made in November 2007 to the Scottish Government for funding assistance but it was only last month that a letter, offering a contribution of 500,000, was received from ministers.

Mr Morrison said: "They (the government] have made it clear that if the cost exceeds 500,000 the additional costs will have to be met by Aberdeenshire Council.

"Further exploratory and design work will have to be undertaken to obtain a more accurate estimate of total cost. As there is no budget allocation for the project, it is proposed to meet any shortfall in funding up to a maximum of 100,000 from the revenue flood prevention budget."

Mr Morrison continued: "All the works require to be undertaken on private ground over which the council has no responsibility. Legal and insurers' advice would suggest that responsibility for keeping the slope safe rests with the landowners, but the scale of the work required is such that it is believed to be beyond the means of the owners concerned.

"The cost of the works are substantial, but the owners of the slope will gain little direct benefit from the measures as neither are understood to own any of the properties located at the base of the slope. It is proposed to pursue contributions from the two parties involved either in monetary terms or 'in kind'."