| Professor Alan Werritty, an adviser to the Scottish Executive on flood management, was commenting as communities in Perthshire faced another day battling to save their homes from the swollen waters of the River Tay and its tributaries.
He explained the Scottish Executive recently issued new guidance to local authorities for giving planning permission for new houses in areas at high risk of flooding. The guidance represented a considerable toughening up on previous recommendations because “high risk” was now defined as once every 200 years.
Low-lying modern homes in market towns like Dunkeld, Birnam and Aberfeldy have been engulfed by the latest floods, and he said these dwellings probably received planning permission before the more stringent guidelines came into force.
He continued, “The difficulty we now face is that the cost of putting in formal flood defences — perhaps some kind of retaining wall — may be higher than the possible benefit.
“The guidelines the Scottish Executive has to work to from the Treasury are that there must be a positive benefit-cost ratio — the benefit to the householder must exceed the cost of construction. If there isn’t a positive benefit-cost ratio it is difficult to come up with a solution.
“There is an idea there are some properties where one could argue it would be better to negotiate with the householder to buy out the property and have it demolished and then for the property to be rebuilt in a place not at risk from flooding. This has not happened yet in Scotland but it has happened in other parts of the world, and as a medium-term solution it must be part of our future strategy.” |
