By Paul Reoch

A FLOOD-affected resident of Milnathort has criticised Perth and Kinross Council over the appointment of a scholar from an English university to look into the solution to flooding in the village.

Dozens of families in Milnathort were forced to flee their homes on December 13, when the Back Burn burst its banks.

Several people have still to return to their houses and there have been calls for legal action to be taken against the council.

Perth and Kinross Council then instructed Arup Scotland, which built the £500,000 flood-prevention scheme, to conduct an investigation into the reasons for the flooding. Their report, which was compiled and validated by Atkins, consultant engineers, revealed it would have been at a “manageable level” had one section of embankment been built to the right level.

The report stated an earth bund at an area referred to as 5 Wester Loan collapsed, leading to the centre of Milnathort being flooded and resulting in around 40 residents having to leave their homes.

The council have received considerable flak over their handling of the whole matter and this has now exacerbated following the appointment of Professor Richard Hey of the University of East Anglia. His task is to compile a report into possible soft-flood defence options for Milnathort.

Dawn Ramage (52), secretary of the Milnathort Flood Action Group, last night told The Courier, “We have been told that this appointment will cost around £1000 per day to look into soft-defence flood systems. This was announced at a meeting held in the afternoon, at which only a few flood-affected residents could attend.

“Why the council chose to bring in a professor from East Anglia, which has a completely different geographical composition is unbelievable. We have Dr Richard Johnson, who is an expert in these matters, living in Glendevon—surely it would have made more sense to appoint him.

“All we were told was that there would be a written report into this from the professor, but there was no commitment given as to what will happen.

“We were also told that the council will be producing a newsletter on the flooding, which seems a bit late, coming nine months after the incident.”

Perth and Kinross Council said they are using Professor Hey due to his experience, but didn’t disclose the costs involved.

A spokesman said, “Perth and Kinross Council are doing all we can to assist residents by looking into options for strengthening the village’s flood response.

“As part of this, and following requests from residents, we are looking into whether or not a level of protection would be achieved by working with the flow of water rather than erecting barriers against it.

“Professor Hey is an expert in this area so we are looking to draw on his expertise in considering options in Milnathort. We will provide residents with updates on our discussions with Professor Hey and other matters in future newsletters.

“We would point out to residents that any expenditure we are incurring is being used to assist them, by looking into ways in which the level of protection afforded to Milnathort could be increased.”

He continued, “This week we will be issuing a newsletter to residents that will provide an update on the actions that we have taken so far. It has been produced and photocopied in-house at minimal cost.

“The newsletter includes information on the efficacy of flood barriers for individual houses.”