I thank the committee members for inviting me, along with my colleague, Mr Dowson. This is a very emotive subject for the town of Dumfries. I will explain why.
Dumfries and Galloway Council has proposed a flood prevention scheme for the Whitesands area of Dumfries. The council has stated:
“The start of construction works will be dependent on the funding being available from the Scottish Government.”
I am calling on the Scottish Government to rule out providing specific funding for the project for the following reasons.
The first reason is local opposition. The strength of feeling from many people about the issue prompted me to lodge the petition against the council’s proposed flood defence system. The petition has gone from strength to strength and now has 4,000 signatures.
The opposition comes from businesses and the public, including visitors to Dumfries. People do not want to lose the river view and the important safe car parking that is within easy reach of the main post office, banks and many local businesses. People also fear the time that the system will take to build—approximately two years. No one wants the bus route to be altered to make buses go up narrow streets where there are many pedestrians.
Another reason is the cost. The council said that the cost would be £12 million but, in just a few short weeks, that has increased to £15 million and rising. I have researched other flood defence companies, which have designs that would keep our river views and our important safe car parks, at a much lower cost and with shorter build times. Has the council considered or spoken to any other flood defence companies? Why is only one option on the table for councillors to consider?
I invited the chief executive officer of another flood defence company to come to a public meeting in Dumfries to demonstrate that company’s designs and products and to show people how it could build flood defences for considerably less money and over a shorter build time, while saving our car parks and river views. More than 150 people attended my public meeting. The council will have to buy a private car park—a car park that is normally full on most days—with money from the public purse to try to find room for the 230 cars that will be displaced if the scheme goes ahead.
My previous actions include writing to Scotland’s First Minister and to the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. I asked questions at ministers’ question time at Easterbrook hall in Dumfries after the recent Cabinet meeting there. The environment minister, Dr Aileen McLeod, informed me at that meeting that she would be looking into the proposed flood prevention scheme and might visit the town of Cockermouth to view its flood protection, including the floating wall. I have had meetings and dialogue with council officials. I have raised in the media the cost of the flood project, which started at £12 million and now, in just a few short weeks, has reached £15 million. I have also spoken to several councillors about the proposed scheme.
The photos and design plans that the council put out to the public do not show the true image of the finished project—particularly the height of the proposed grass banking, which would block our river views. The project would destroy our river views for ever. Part of the build will have walls of about 2m high, with glass panels on the top. No safety railings are shown on the walkway at the top of the banking, which has an incline of 30° to 35° and about 8m of grass at its base.
The river would be blocked off from public view from the road. At the moment there is a clear view of the river from the road and shops. What if something happened beside the river, such as someone falling, or worse? Have the emergency services, including inshore rescue, been spoken to about access to the river if any incident occurs?
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Buses will have to go up Bank Street—a busy pedestrian area—where there is a sharp right turn. The buses then face a multiroad system that creates traffic jams.
Our public toilets will be lost. The council has made no decision about whether and where they will be rebuilt.
The project has a build time of more than two years and will turn our riverfront into a building site. What happens if the river floods during that time?
Most businesses inform me that they are very concerned about the project, especially given that we are in a time of austerity. As I said, the cost of the project has risen from £12 million to £15 million.
The council wants to turn a green area into a riverside car park to compensate for the proposed 230 displaced parking spaces. The proposed car park would be further out and difficult to access.
The ancient rood fair, which comes to our town twice a year and has been coming here for at least seven generations, will be lost for ever.
Has the council engaged properly with the public about the proposed flood prevention scheme? Some of the information that it is using appears to have been collated in 2013. If the council is democratic, why does it continue to push through the system a flood scheme that thousands of people do not want? The council will not even speak to us.
Like many others, I feel that this is not the way to treat the people who, with hard-earned money from their salaries, pay for such projects via the public purse. By pushing this poorly thought-out design through the system to have it built in our town, the council comes across as being driven by ego. People fear another DG One scenario—that is the name of the flagship leisure centre that cost at least £17 million and, in just a few years, has been plagued by faults. It is now so bad that it has closed, apparently until the end of 2016, and possibly beyond that.
To be honest, people would rather have nothing than this ill-conceived and poorly thought-out design, which is being thrust upon them and their ancient market town.
When flooding comes, all the bushes and flowers on the steep earth banking in the design will pick up all the debris and contaminants, which will get trapped between the railings and the grass bund. Who will clean that? The council does not clean it at the moment. Earth bunds are for the country and not the centre of towns—especially a town such as Dumfries. I have campaigned for flood defences for years, but not these ones.