Council chiefs have pleaded with the Scottish Government to throw the north-east a funding lifeline amid fears the high cost of a Mearns flood prevention scheme will leave other communities exposed.
The £15million Stonehaven project is aimed at stopping the River Carron bursting its banks again and causing a repeat of the widespread damage the town suffered in 2009 and 2012.
But last night fears were raised that the work could drain resources set aside to tackle flooding in other areas.
Aberdeenshire Council has allocated £24.2million in its capital plan until 2030 for the protection of all the region’s harbours, coasts and flood risk areas.
Members of the local authority’s Kincardine and Mearns area committee will be asked to support the Stonehaven project when they meet on Tuesday.
But in a report to councillors, director of infrastructure Stephen Archer warns: “The inclusion of such a major scheme as Stonehaven will severely limit the potential to carry out other works of this nature within the current capital plan.”
He adds that the sum set aside was “sufficient” to cover the cost of the Stonehaven project, but said towns such as Huntly – which has also been hit badly in recent years – could suffer as a result.
Mr Archer said: “It had been hoped that funding assistance could be secured from the Scottish Government.
“However, it has been confirmed that the funds available through the flooding component of the general capital grant for this review period have been fully allocated.”
He added that the earliest opportunity to secure funding under new flood risk management plans being drawn up by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency could be late next year.
Last night, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said ministers were still considering how best to fund flood prevention measures in the future.
Aberdeenshire Council leader Jim Gifford claimed the region was being short-changed.
“That is where we always have a problem, we are asked to do more and more with the money we have,” he said.
“Stonehaven and Huntly got hammered a few years ago and if we get a big storm it could cause really big problems if we find we’re having to do emergency repairs and wondering where we get the money from.
“These issues would be helped either if we got a fair share of government funding or had more ability to raise the money ourselves, but we can’t because of the council tax freeze.
“We are the third most under-funded council in Scotland and if there is no money in the pot we have no flexibility with what we do with it.”
The River Carron in Stonehaven burst its banks in 2009 and 2012, wrecking properties in the town centre and causing major disruption to residents and businesses.
Engineering firm Mott Macdonald is currently drafting detailed designs for the flood prevention scheme after winning the contract for the work.
The project includes new flood walls along the River Carron’s boundaries in the village and a flood wall with a self-closing barrier between White Bridge and the Bridgefield crossing.
Flooding also brought havoc to the Meadows area of Huntly in 2009 and plans are in place for a £2.9million flood prevention scheme there.
The local authority has proposed raising and strengthening existing defences on the River Deveron, building culverts and creating storage for flood water by constricting the flow in the Meadows Burn.
Douglas Samways, chairman of the Stonehaven Town Partnership (STP), said Scottish Government funding would be preferable to money being taken “from another area of Aberdeenshire”.
He said: “The STP support what the flood prevention plan says because we have seen first-hand the effects in recent years on individuals and businesses, anything that can reduce the risk of that happening in the future is to be welcomed.”
Huntly Community Council vice-chairman, Tony Gill, said: “There was a public hearing in Huntly to review the details and get approval on the scheme.
“As far as I am aware the commitment has been made for the Huntly scheme to be put in place and we are not aware that there would be any issues with funding.”