HOUSEHOLDERS have been warned they may have to wait another year before their properties are assessed to see if they are due compensation for damage allegedly caused by flood prevention works.
Residents at Stockbridge Colonies, next to the Water of Leith in Edinburgh, have banded together to co-ordinate claims after chimneys caved in and cracks appeared in listed buildings following the controversial works that are running a year late.
Eighteen claims are already lodged. Some of those involve first-floor flats that have suffered from the works despite never being flooded.
The council will not carry out repairs on any damage proven to have been caused by the works and can only make a final assessment when the bulk of the work is done, according to a document seen by The Herald.
The council is locked in negotiations over the costs of the works, which threaten to double the £11.5 million bill because of the over-run due to bad weather and unforeseen conditions.
The massive civil engineering project has already been going on for a year and has involved the shifting of huge boulders and concrete walls into place as well as the driving of foundations.
Rose Pipes of the Stockbridge Colonies Residents Association said she is awaiting a response to the first claims.
She said: "For residents like me, who live right next to the river, it has been a very anxious year. As well as the noise and disruption caused by the flood works, most of us have suffered damage to our properties and have had a long struggle to get the council to agree to process claims for the cost of repairs."
While the council will process each claim individually, its property management and development department document sets out a framework.
The paper reads: "The council will ensure residents are not left disadvantaged as a result of ongoing liaison with CEC and Lagan [the contractors].
"The council will take ownership of the claims/issues and is eager to progress them. Condition surveys will be undertaken towards completion of the flood prevention works.
Nigel Bagshaw, Green Party councillor for Inverleith, said he been shown damage to buildings which was "undoubtedly" caused by flood protection works, saying: "I hope the council will make it easy for local residents to claim compensation for damage."
The scheme was initiated after about 500 properties flooded in 2000.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article