Grangemouth's £500m flood defence plans revealed

Final plans have been unveiled for a £500m flood protection scheme in Grangemouth, described as the most important of its kind in Scotland.

The scheme has been drawn up to protect 2,760 homes, 1,200 businesses and national infrastructure sites including the Petroineos petrochemical site.

The length of planned flood defences is approximately 28km (17.3mi).

Falkirk Council said recent remodelling based on rising sea levels meant there was "added urgency" for protection.

It said the scheme aims to protect against "medium probability and very high-impact events, which would cause extensive damage to property, infrastructure and could even lead to the loss of lives."

Grangemouth has experienced some regular flooding, but no extreme events like in Angus and Aberdeenshire saw in October last year during Storm Babet.

The future flooding threat comes partly from the Firth of Forth, but also three tidal rivers which flow through Grangemouth.

The planned scheme includes flood walls and gates, embankments, and pumping stations.

In-person events for people in the scheme area are taking place this week.

Alistair Dawson is the council's infrastructure projects manager.

He said rising tides and sea levels from climate change, along with more intense rain storms over the hills would increase the risk of severe flooding.

He said: "We've been fortunate there haven't been any of these extreme flooding events that we've been seeing elsewhere in the country.

"But there have been several smaller flood events on a regular basis and we've got roads infrastructure in the area which is affected almost annually.

"So it's quite a vulnerable site."

Mr Dawson said a number of projects were prioritised by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and the Scottish government, and the Grangemouth scheme "came out number one."

He said: "There are four or five times as many homes at risk in this area than there are in any of the other projects in Scotland."

The formal notification stage of the project is expected to begin in a few weeks, where local residents can submit objections.

Falkirk Council are leading the project, whose funding model still has to be finalised with the Scottish government.

Mr Dawson said: "It's obviously quite a fluid timeline given some of the complexities and the different stages we need to move through.

"But we hope the entire project, if it's funded, could be taken forward in about a 10-year period."

Walter Inglis of Grangemouth Community Council said: "I think it is a difficult sell, there's no two ways about that.

"The pragmatic view is that we would rather have that inconvenience for the short-term if the end result can be empathetic to the surroundings."