Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Flood report for Ballater gets priority

Rescue efforts in Ballater during the floods
Rescue efforts in Ballater during the floods

Aberdeenshire Council has appointed a firm to conduct a further study into floods in Ballater.

RPS Consulting Services will undertake the detailed analysis and develop a hydrological model to appraise sustainable options to protect properties in future.

It is due to be completed by summer 2018 and cost £200,000.

It follows on from the Ballater Flood Group report that was published in February which reviewed the circumstances behind the 2015 flood and the subsequent recovery operation.

More than 300 homes and 60 businesses were devastated in the village when a bund at Ballater Golf Club burst, sending four feet of water tearing through the community.

The flood group did not rule out the possibility of another flood occurrence, but noted the “river channel capacity has increased” since the devastating events of December 2015.

The action group has since disbanded, but last night group co-ordinator Tony Cox welcomed the news.

He said: “We have said all along that Ballater was one of the most-devastated towns after the floods – it almost fell into a national catastrophe category and should be afforded more priority. “I’m extremely grateful to see this report come forward and await its outcome with interest.”

The group found the flood resulted from a “combination of exceptional and unusual” events which caused a volume of water which “vastly exceeded” the River Dee capacity.

The main factors were the high rainfall in November 2015, followed by the impact of Storm Eva and Storm Frank. Temperature inversions at the North Pole were also cited as causing “very rapid snowmelt on surrounding higher ground”.

Chairman of Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee and local councillor Peter Argyle said: “There is no doubt Ballater was one of the Scottish communities most affected by Storm Frank, which it has to be said was an exceptional weather event.

“While the Local Flood Risk Management Plan for the North East Region did not identify Ballater as the most at risk community, it is hard to ignore the consequences of what happened during Storm Frank and it was right to prioritise the town, given it is still recovering from flooding today.

“I’m sure the local community will welcome this significant step towards putting physical measures in place which will help prevent a repeat of the terrible flooding at the start of last year.”