£250,000 set to be released by council for emergency storm relief

By Liam Rutherford

A sum of £250,000 is set to be released from Angus Council reserves to pay for emergency costs associated with Storm Babet.

The storm earlier this month wreaked havoc in Angus and led to hundreds of Brechin residents being evacuated due to flooding.

Three people died in the storm, two from Angus and one from Perthshire.

Although the full cost of recovery is not yet known, Angus councillors will be asked to release £250,000 from a general fund to pay for immediate costs.

A report by Steve Mill, service lead for finance, will go before a full council meeting on Thursday.

It says: “Angus Council officers are still responding to the impact of the storm and processes and procedures are being established to aid recovery and allow the assessment of the storm’s financial impact.

“There will undoubtedly be significant revenue and capital costs for the council once these are able to be assessed in full and these will be reported to members in due course.”

Funds needed as soon as possible

There has been an outcry for action from local residents and businesses following the devastating storm.

Local entrepreneur Kevin Mackie believes more could be done to support the local community.

The report continued: “There are immediate costs requiring to be incurred by the council outwith normal budgets – e.g. emergency centre, hotel accommodation, food supplies, etc – and the possible need to supplement staffing levels on a temporary basis.”

If the bid is approved by councillors the council’s chief executive, Mrs Margo Williamson, will spearhead use of the cash.

It will leave £2.272m in the council’s general fund.

The report says a second fund, the Provision for Additional Burdens, worth £269,000 can also be used, bringing the total too £519,000, but the report does not ask councillors to approve this.