Government must target funding for flood prevention

Plans for a Flood Forecasting Service are welcome, but information from it should be used to target flood prevention funding to where it is most needed.

Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham recently announced plans for a Flood Forecasting Service, providing £750,000 of Scottish Government funding.  Liberal Democrat campaigner for Angus and Mearns, Sanjay Samani, welcomed the announcement, but called on the Government to do more on planning flood prevention as well as forecasting.

The announcement of the investment for flood forecasting is very welcome.  We all remember the devastating effects of flooding throughout Angus, Mearns and Stonehaven last year.  Local emergency services can now be better prepared in case these tragic events occur again in future.

However, ensuring that flooding is prevented is even more important than forecasting when it will happen.  The SNP Government made it a requirement that Councils prepare for flooding in the Flood Risk Management Act passed by parliament last year.

The SNP Government must make use of the information from the forecasting service to ensure that funding for flood prevention is provided where it is most needed.  Funding should not be based on a simplistic count of population, but has to be targeted to where flooding is most likely to occur and cause devastating damage to homes, farmland and businesses.

PHOTO: Sanjay visiting a flooding site in Brechin with Montrose Cllr David May and Provost & Brechin Cllr Ruth Leslie Melville:

Sanjay Samani visiting flooding site in Brechin