By Eric Nicolson

THE ROADS department of Perth and Kinross Council failed to cover itself in glory with the way it dealt with localised flooding in parts of rural Perthshire at the weekend, and was guilty a “lack of forward planning,” a local councillor has claimed.

Councillor Barbara Vaughan, who represents the Strathtay ward, will be seeking an urgent meeting with the director of roads to discuss difficulties experienced by motorists as a result of the “lack of road signs” during floods on Saturday.

Mrs Vaughan said road closure signs were not put in place quickly enough, causing unnecessary inconvenience.

“The Strathtay ward has a long stretch of the River Tay running through it. As a councillor for the area I have grave concerns about the information given to drivers about flooded roads on Saturday,” she said.

“I will be seeking an early meeting with the director of roads to ensure that helpful road signs are erected promptly when there is any flooding that requires motorists to take alternative routes.

“I would like to thank all those members of staff working for the roads department and Tayside Contracts for the hard work they put in over the weekend. Their lives, and those of motorists, could have been made easier with better forward planning.”

She said the A984 from Meikleour to Dunkeld posed particular problems on Saturday.

“There was no sign warning traffic travelling towards Meikleour about the flooding to the east of Spittalfield, just before the junction to the Essendy Road,” Mrs Vaughan said.

“The problem was made worse once the Ballathie Road was closed. Drivers who use this route to Blairgowrie were driving up to Caputh in order to use the Essendy Road.

“I have been told by a local resident that the flooding on the A984 at this point was reported to the roads department early in the day.

“It took very nearly three hours from my reporting it to signs appearing warning motorists that the road was closed. At one point I was informed that Tayside Contracts had run out of ‘Road Closed’ signs.

“It was fairly obvious with the torrential rain on Friday, and the snow melt on the hills, that there was likely to be flooding on roads in the area.”

Commenting on the flooding throughout east and highland Perthshire over the last few days, North Tayside MSP John Swinney said, “The last few days have seen very significant levels of rainfall which, coupled to quick snow melt, has resulted in a huge rise in river levels.

“It is of much regret that some householders have seen water coming into their properties and many people have been inconvenienced by road closures throughout the area.

“I spent much of Saturday seeing the situation for myself— and without doubt the scale of the river levels, which are not far short of those in the last major flood in 2006—have created a very difficult situation.

“I am keen to ensure that through co-operation between the local community, the council and the government, we can work to take as many practical steps as possible to tackle the problem created by flooding.

“The government’s new flooding legislation will be significant in addressing the legislative framework, but of greater importance is getting practical action in place to protect as many people as possible in this situation.

“Before the floods, I have had a number of discussions with local communities and the council regarding this problem and I will continue these discussions as an immediate priority,” he said.

On Saturday, roads in the Blairgowrie and Dunkeld areas were the worst affected but most remained open, and many were remote and minor. All the major arteries were open throughout the weekend.

Flooding at Dalguise between Dunkeld and Pitlochry disrupted rail services to and from Inverness on Saturday.

Services from Inverness to Glasgow or Edinburgh were terminating at Avie-more and restarting at Perth, while services going in the opposite direction from Glasgow or Edinburgh to Inverness were terminating at Perth, with a replacement bus service running from Perth to Inverness calling at all stations.

With levels rising on the Tay, the flood gates were closed along the river banks in Perth.

Firefighters were called to a few incidents but the number of properties affected remained small, though large areas of agricultural land were under water.

In the early hours of Saturday fire units attended at Burnmouth Road in Dunkeld, High Street and Quaich Place in Kinross, and Charlotte Place in Perth to pump away flood waters.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) was warning of the high possibility of flooding throughout the area with a number of “severe” flood warnings—the highest category—in place.

These covered the River Tay from Kenmore to Perth, the River Earn from Crieff to Bridge of Earn, the River Tummel downstream of Pitlochry Dam to Ballinluig and the River Isla from Bridge of Ruthven to the River Tay.

SEPA’s website warned people in these areas to take swift action saying, “Act now to protect yourself, your family and your home or business”—but they were downgraded to just a flood warning by mid-day yesterday.

Dennis Melloy, who represents Strathmore ward, expressed concerns that the council had not provided the best communication, and will be seeking to find out why.

Roads were blocked as early as 2pm on Saturday but in the early evening information had not been passed to police or Radio Tay.

Mr Melloy said, “I was astounded that after 6pm on Radio Tay I heard that they didn’t know of any roads being affected by flooding.

“Some roads were block-ed by 2pm and neither the police nor Radio Tay had been notified. This concerns me greatly.

“Why is the council’s press department not being updated?

“Radio Tay is first class at updating people on the roads situation and I feel people have been let down badly here.

“Radio Tay and the police didn’t have the information they should have, and I will be making inquiries tomorrow to find out why that is.”

One houseowner left to count the cost was Irene Cunningham, whose property in Burnmouth Road, Dunkeld, was flooded for the third time in a year.

Mrs Cunningham has called for preventative measures.

“Having Emailed local MP Pete Wishart about this problem, which has now been ongoing for over 15 years, I have had no recent response from him.

“Flood barriers have been mentioned over the years, but to date nothing has been done to alleviate the problem of flooding,” she said.

“At present my insurance company has placed a £10,000 excess on my policy as they are aware the house is situated on the flood plain,” she said.

“The fire brigade have done a fantastic job of pumping out excess water from the garden areas.

“This is the second year in a row they have been in attendance and they have done a wonderful job of both draining the water and helping the residents move their personal possessions.”

*The only Perthshire road still closed yesterday evening was the C470 South Loch Earn Road.