An assessment into the economic benefit brought to the Stonehaven area by the Bervie Braes road is to begin this week.

The study will look at the road from Dunottar Castle into the town.

Aberdeenshire Council's economic development team is following up on the route after it was reopened earlier this year by the roads service.

The local community successfully campaigned for the reopening of the road after it was closed following a series of major landslips at Bervie Braes in 2009.

Currently, the route is only open one-way until October in order to address concerns over the economic impact on businesses and tourism caused by the closure.

The Council has said the road will close for the winter season and reopen again in the spring to allow tourists visiting nearby Dunottar Castle a more direct route into the town.

The road has a weight limit of three tonnes, a speed limit of 20mph and barriers have been installed as an added safety measure. A system has also been put in place to trigger the closure of the road if there are concerns about the stability of the slope in the event of heavy rainfall.

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Reopening of the road cost £300,000 and officers continue to monitor and review the condition of the slopes at Bervie Braes. Over the last year, there have been a number of landslips of varying sizes on the upper slope of Bervie Braes and while none have caused significant amounts of debris to flow onto the road, they do confirm the instability of the upper slope.

In addition to the above measures, the local authority is also monitoring use of the road throughout the summer months, but to date, there is no objective data on how regularly the road was used before it was closed.

With the use of the road being monitored, the Council will undertake a more qualitative study on the economic impact the reopening is having on Stonehaven.

Bellerby Economics, in partnership with IBP Strategy and Research, has been appointed as the council's consultant with a brief to provide a robust assessment of the economic value of re-opening the road.

It will:

• analyse and review the existing economic study undertaken on behalf of the Stonehaven Town Partnership

• gather data from visitors and businesses in the area

• gather data on the cost of maintenance of the road and other data held on the road, including traffic counters.

Aberdeenshire Council's Head of Economic Development, Belinda Miller, said: "Not only will this work provide important information on the real value of the Bervie Braes road to the local community, it's also a chance to gather some useful information on local tourism which is not otherwise available.

"When the reopening of the road was approved by councillors, they also asked for this full economic assessment to be done, so the council has a fuller picture of exactly what effect the road has on local tourist trade.

"Our consultants will begin the study this week, starting by getting in touch with local businesses linked to the tourist trade, and we would encourage as many as possible to get involved. We will also be surveying visitors to Dunnotar Castle and expect the findings of the study to be delivered in October."

(JP/MH)