Aberdeenshire Councillors have agreed the appointment of a contractor to secure the cliff face above the historic coastal community of Pennan.

Geotechnical specialists Jacobs Ltd. have been appointed to undertake the development and implementation of the project.

The decision was taken at Thursday's meeting of the Policy and Resources committee at Aberdeenshire Council's Woodhill House headquarters.

Jacobs Ltd has prior knowledge and experience of the site and was awarded the work following a competitive bid and approval by the committee.

A series of landslips occurred on the cliff face behind properties numbers 18 to 53 Shore Street at Pennan on Monday, August 6, 2007 following a period of exceptionally heavy rainfall.

This necessitated the evacuation of a number of houses due to mud entering the properties and concerns about the risk of further slips.

-- Advertisement --

When weather conditions improved, a clean-up operation by Aberdeenshire Council began and Jacobs were brought in to assess the cliff face and give advice on measures to make the slope safe and allow residents to return.

Loose material was removed from the cliff face by the end of 2007 and the houses could be re-occupied, but substantially more expensive and costly work was required to be done in the long term, to reduce the risk of further landslips.

Though the council funded the cost of the clean-up operations and removal of the loose material, there is no statutory duty on the council to carry out further preventative work, on what is private land.

An initial estimate of the cost of the works was put at £600,000 and the Scottish Government was approached for funding assistance, subsequently offering £500,000 in December 2008.

On January 29, the council's Infrastructure Services Committee agreed to support the principle of utilising Council funds of up to £100,000 from the existing Revenue Flood Prevention Budget and, if necessary, the Revenue Road Maintenance Fund, to supplement the Scottish Government's contribution.

However, both the Banff and Buchan Area Committee and the Infrastructure Services Committee asked that efforts be made to secure contributions from property owners to minimise the costs to the council.

Jacobs Ltd. has already undertaken preliminary investigation work through their previous participation at Pennan and have developed a good understanding of the technical issues involved.

Their knowledge will allow them to take matters forward with the minimum of delay

(GK/JM)