Council chiefs are taking action to keep a Buchan community safe from flooding.
The Roanheads area of Peterhead has been battered by storms in recent years, forcing homes to be evacuated as surging tides breached defences along the seawall.
Now Aberdeenshire Council has pledged £47,000 to reinforce flood prevention measures in the area.
As part of the scheme, the local authority has submitted a bid to its own planning service to increase the height of the seawall by about 2ft at Roanheads to prevent waves from “overtopping”.
Peterhead Port Authority will supply the workforce for the project if it is approved.
Last night the organisation’s chief executive John Wallace said the improvements were greatly needed and urged locals to get behind the scheme.
“It will clearly be a good thing,” he said.
“It’s a measure that will provide a tremendous amount of protection provided we get planning permission.
“We consulted with the residents of Roanheads and while they weren’t all in favour of it, the majority were.
“I respect the planning process and, whatever the residents of Roanheads decide to do, we will either go forward with the scheme or it will be left.”
Gavin Bissett, a flooding technician on Aberdeenshire Council’s flood prevention team, said he was “satisfied” by the project.
In a letter to planners, he said: “Having reviewed the proposals I am satisfied that this application will have no negative impact on the local flood risk.”
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has raised no objections about increasing the height of the wall.
About 30 people from 16 properties – many of them pensioners – were forced to flee their homes in 2012 when Roanhead bore the brunt of the worst storms to batter Peterhead in more than 70 years.
Houses were left extensively damaged as locals struggled to hold back the rising sea level with sandbags.