Monday 22 March 2004

The conclusion resoundingly condemns Moray Council's recent decision to spend £95 million on engineered flood defences in the Elgin area as out of line with the new thinking on sustainable flood management promoted by the Scottish Executive.

The report, published by WWF Scotland and written by an internationally acclaimed insurance expert, concludes that Moray Council's decision could have serious consequences for the local economy of Moray, unless they can bring their flood risk under control with a sustainable approach, in line with Executive strategy.

Already many businesses and homeowners in Elgin are finding flood insurance either impossible to gain or prohibitively expensive. With climate change only adding to the likelihood that Elgin will suffer even more serious flooding in future, it is imperative that Moray council look again at their recent proposals.

"At a conservative estimate it could take up to ten years to fund and build the flood defences proposed for Elgin. In the meantime the local economy, in terms of businesses and indeed social cost, could suffer irreversibly." said Mike Donaghy, WWF Freshwater Policy Officer.

"As this report shows, there are other councils in Scotland dealing with flooding on a much greater scale than Elgin's, by inexpensive, sustainable and effective means that work with the causes of flooding, not just the effect. Moray Council has chosen instead to follow an outdated approach to flood alleviation that really is out of step with the Scottish Executive's current thinking. They risk being the first council in Scotland to have their flood defence funding bid rejected unless they change their plans and work with the river system, instead of against it".

• Elgin suffered serious flooding in July 1997, April 2000 and November 2002. In November 2002 650 residential and 180 commercial properties were flooded. The Moray Flood Alleviation Group's own figures show that in an average 10 year period there are likely to be two floods which will flood 135 homes and 10 businesses and one larger flood which will flood 340 homes and 45 businesses.
• Moray Council is the only council in Scotland with a significant flood risk which has not established a flood appraisal group in accordance with Scottish Executive policy.
• The new report reveals that most of the hundreds of properties affected by flooding in Moray were constructed after 1967. In other words the local planning authority has continued to allow construction in flood hazard areas despite irrefutable evidence showing the dangers of doing so.
  The new report examines the approaches used by Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City and reveals that although their potential flooding problems are greater, the amount of money spent on flood defences has been a fraction of that approved by Moray Council.

WWF proposals for sustainable flood management in Scotland, in line with recent legislation, include:

• floodplains restored to their natural size and function along the entire river;
• extensive riverbank planting and restoration of native woodland to stop erosion;
• the restoration of wetlands to absorb water and release it slowly;
• by reducing grazing and adopting flood-friendly practices, the agricultural pressure on floodplains could be alleviated with compensation being awarded to farmers and landowners; and
• the voluntary purchase for demolition of properties on floodplains and the relocation of residents to appropriately sited homes.

Additional Information

WWF's Freshwater Programme is funded by HSBC through the Investing in Nature partnership. Investing in Nature is a US$50 million, five year partnership funded by HSBC, working with Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Earthwatch and WWF. Launched in February 2002 , Investing in Nature will protect 20,000 plant species from extinction, breathe life into some of the world's major rivers, and send scientists and HSBC workers around the world.

The European Water Framework Directive was transposed into Scots Law in January 2003 as the Water Environment Water Services (Scotland) Act (2003) (WEWSA). In this Act, there is a duty to promote 'sustainable flood management.' Under the WEWSA, Moray Council would be expected to have examined the flood processes at a catchment level, identified the stakeholders and then presented the capacity for sustainable flood management. No estimate of the capacity for sustainable flood management in the Lossie catchment has been presented.