April 2024 update

The Brechin Community Drop In continues to run every Thursday from 9:30am to 12 noon at The Crickety.

Pop in for a cup of tea, a chat, or advice on issues relating to the impact of the storm, such as:

• money and benefits
• future flood protection
• insurance
• grants and funding: advice and help with applications
• emails and form-filling
• housing
• mental health and wellbeing
• and anything else you feel you need help with

You can also email us at communityresilience@angus.gov.uk.

Angus Floodmobile Roadshow

The roadshow ran across Angus from the 18 to 21 March, including a visit to Glebe Park on 19 March.

Flood Mary, Scottish Flood Forum, Angus Council Housing, Angus Council Roads (Flooding), SSEN and Angus Council Communities team were on hand to give support and respond to queries and feedback on flood recovery and protection.

We responded to questions on dealing with insurance claims; getting insurance for the future; mental health and wellbeing and where to get help and support.

It was great to see those who made it along and the feedback has been very positive.

Flood Defences

Works on the wing wall are nearly finished. The majority of the strengthened wall is now complete.

Pointing of the new wall will start soon and then the walkway will be resurfaced. Some of the original coping stones are still to be pulled from the river. We will do this when the river levels have dropped enough for us to see the stones clearly. As the wall is part of the listed structure, we must make every effort to ensure it looks as it was.

The study looking into options for improving the flood resilience, including the current flood defences, is ongoing. We will provide further updates as the study progresses.

Brechin clean up walkround

This took place on 4 April. It covered River Street, Middleton Park, Nursery Lane, Nursery Park and surrounding areas. It identified the following action points:

• Paths and drying areas around Nursery Lane and Nursery Park have been cleaned once again by the Brechin Street sweeper and Swingo.
• Access paths and stairwells will be power washed after the contractors are finished their remedial work. This is due to be completed by end of April.
• Road verges have been cleaned by the large mechanical road sweeper this week and drains and gullies have been cleared out.
• Additional sweeps of the hard standing areas the length of River Street plus additional road sweeping and gulley emptying to help disperse the silt that has accumulated. Our SWAT team will continue to visit on a regular basis to power wash entries and remove any debris left behind from the flooding.
• Grass cutting has also begun. This should help make open areas look more presentable and with the drier weather help compact any silt on these areas.

Anyone with issues around the open space areas should contact ACCESSLine or the local housing team and we will try to prioritise this work.

Housing survey

Housing consultants Arneil Johnston have been working with Angus Council to look at options for housing. They are preparing to engage with residents and the first stage of this will be through a survey that people living in flood-affected areas in Brechin can complete.

The aim of the survey is to find out about the impact the flood has had on them.

The responses will be used to help build an options appraisal. An options appraisal involves measuring several potential solutions against a set of agreed criteria. The aim is to find the solution that best meets everyone’s needs.

It is important that as many residents as possible in the flood affected area complete the survey to ensure that everyone's voices and opinions are heard.

There will be face to face consultation sessions arranged during May once the survey results are obtained and analysed. This will allow residents to provide further details of their experience and expand on their survey responses.

Look out for more information on the survey.

Housing update

All Council owned flats that were impacted by the flood are being stripped out and taken back to the bricks to allow them all to dry out.

We hope to have completed this by the end of April. The next step will be to place dehumidifiers into the ground floor properties. We will sweep and wash the entryways once the work has been completed.

In the meantime, you can email BrechinMontroseCHT@angus.gov.uk or call ACCESSLine on 03452 777 778.

Decorating grant: update from Brechin Buccaneers

We know that many people are still waiting on homes, but many others have moved and may need a little help in decorating rooms and personalising them. Last week Brechin Rotary Club have allocated £20,000 to allow residents in ground floor properties purchase materials to decorate their properties. £100 per household is available for homeowners and tenants to help in making your home more homely. These vouchers can be obtained from the Crickety.

Email brechinbuccaneers@yahoo.co.uk or pop in to drop-in at The Crickety for more details.

Brechin Buccaneers on Facebook.