St Cyrus Travellers deny making flooding worse - Aberdeenshire

From the Courier

Travellers occupying the disputed site near the St Cyrus Nature Reserve have challenged claims that the development has contributed to flooding in the area.

As the furore continues around the North Esk Park settlement, and court and council proceedings follow their course, the occupants said the development is not “submerged”, and that the flooding is worse in other areas.

Ann McPhee, a mother of three living in her caravan at the site, said: “To suggest that we have caused the flooding or that it’s several feet deep is not fair.

“The flooding has been there for many years and the area has been prone to flooding before. There’s no submersion either — it’s just a puddle at one of the gates.

“Work has also been going on for a week to improve it so we don’t have any puddles at all. The rest of the grounds are perfectly dry.”

Heavy rain over the past week has caused a build-up of residual water at one of the entrances to the site, currently at the centre of court and council proceedings.

She added: “We have been promised for years and years by Aberdeenshire Council that they would find a home for us.

“They promised to do it by the end of 2013 but they still haven’t done it.

“We were backed into a corner. We feel let down and we have been forced into this. The council has failed us.”

Aberdeenshire Council’s head of housing, Douglas Edwardson, denied a site had been promised for the end of 2013.

He said: “Proposals for a seasonal site for Gypsies/Travellers at Aikey Brae near Old Deer are progressing and will be discussed at a public meeting on February 5.

“Our Gypsy/Traveller liaison officer continues to work closely with the Gypsy/Traveller communities in Aberdeenshire to make sure their views are known and we have consulted with them extensively with regard to the proposed sites. Any proposals must be taken through the correct procedures and consultation processes and no guarantees were ever made that a stopover site would be delivered by the end of 2013.”