Local residents will now have until 23 April 2024 to raise any formal objections to the proposal.
The new defence aims to protect 87 properties and 700 metres of road from flooding from the Allan Water by increasing the height of the existing flood walls along Allanvale Road and Cornton Road and raising the height of Cornton Road over the section adjacent to Haws Park.
In total, £12 million of funding for the scheme will be provided by the Scottish Government as part of the national programme, Funding of Flood Scheme Protections, with the remaining £3 million funding from Stirling Council.
Work is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2026 and will last an estimated 12-18 months.
Protection
The Bridge of Allan community were consulted on the proposals in November 2023, with the new defence scheme designed to protect against a flood which, statistically, occurs once every 50 years.
The current defences were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s and parts are now considered to be in poor condition and do not provide sufficient flood protection against increasing flood events due to climate change.
Convener of the Environment, Transport and Net Zero committee, Cllr Jen Preston, said:
“The Bridge of Allan Flood Protection Scheme is a significant infrastructure project that aims to reduce the risks from the Allan Water and help the community with future resilience.
“We know how damaging floods can be in our local communities and the distress it causes to households and businesses. Extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace as a result of climate change and we must become more preventative and less reactive.
“The option we’ve selected for Bridge of Allan maximises the number of properties to be protected, while maintaining the best use of public funds. It will also follow the alignment of the existing flood protection scheme as much as possible, which will minimise disruption to residents and local businesses.”
Stirling Council has written to local residents and drop in events will also be hosted at Bridge of Allan library on Tuesday 16 April from 2pm-7pm and Thursday 18 April from 9am-1pm.
An online information session will also be held via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday 17 April from 6pm-7pm. Anyone interested in attending the online session is asked to register their details before Monday 15 April by emailing flooding@stirling.gov.uk or by calling a member of the Flood team on 01786 404040.
Full details on the preferred option, including FAQs, are included on a dedicated website: https://flooding.stirling.gov.uk/
* All documents submitted for notification can be viewed on a dedicated website https://flooding.stirling.gov.uk/ All objections to the Scheme must be in writing, and must be made before the expiry of 28 days beginning with 26 March 2024 and ending on 23 April 2024 to: Stirling Council Flooding Team, Stirling Council, Endrick House, Kerse Road, Stirling FK7 7SZ or by email to: flooding@stirling.gov.uk. Objections can also be submitted at https://flooding.stirling.gov.uk/. Any objection to the proposed scheme must include the name and address of the objector.
* The Scottish Government letter to local authorities in August 2023, entitled 'Funding of Flood Protection Schemes – Viability Review', set out a staged process in order for flood schemes to remain viable for Cycle 1 of the Scottish Government's flood scheme funding. The first gateway applicable to Stirling Council's proposed Cycle 1 flood schemes (Bridge of Allan, Callander and Stirling) was to reach notification by 31st March 2024. This required a preferred option to be identified and a variety of supporting documents produced for public inspection. Given the timescales, it would not have been possible to identify a preferred option for Stirling and Callander by this date. An update on funding for future flood prevention schemes is expected in the summer of 2024.
* Aberfoyle flood protection scheme was submitted for Cycle 2 of Scottish Flood Scheme funding. Following SEPA's initial prioritisation of flood schemes, Aberfoyle was given a low priority due to its low cost-benefit ratio and was subsequently removed from Cycle 2 funding.