Flood of applications expected for repair grants

The agricultural floodbank repair grant scheme, which will make payments of up to £20,000 towards restoring man-made defences destroyed in the floods at the turn of the year, is now open for applications.

Sepa chief executive Terry A'Hearn and environment minister Aileen McLeod visit a flood protection scheme in Selkirk. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead confirmed that £1 million was being set aside to assist with repairs to floodbanks on farms in nine local authorities: Aberdeenshire, Angus, City of Aberdeen, Dumfries & Galloway, East Ayrshire, Perth & Kinross, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire and Stirling.

He said that the Scottish Government had worked in partnership with NFU Scotland to develop a scheme which would deliver targeted help “with minimal red tape”. He said that the aid was on top of recent measures announced which included flexibility on greening and cross compliance rules.

“The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) will also take a pragmatic approach while farmers turn their efforts to getting things back to normal,” said Lochhead.

Terry A’Hearn, chief executive of Sepa, added: “We understand the hardship and damage caused by the recent floods. I welcome the introduction of this grant scheme, and I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify that Sepa does not need to be contacted for the repair of man-made flood banks.”

Welcoming the opening of the scheme, NFU Scotland president Allan Bowie, however, said that for those wanting to take advantage of the grant scheme, it was an unfortunate requirement of the state aid scheme that approval would be required prior to any repair works commencing.