Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any financial support that it is providing to tackle coastal erosion in Montrose.
The Scottish Government recognises the serious erosion issues to the sand dunes in Montrose and the impact this could have on flood risk for residents.
Through our Dynamic Coast project, we have worked closely with local authorities to help them plan for coastal adaptation and in our Programme for Government 2020 we announced a new £11.7 million capital budget over four years for coastal change adaptation, starting in 2022-23.
In 2024-25, funding of £2.7m will be distributed to local authorities in two ways. £1.65m in direct allocation to coastal local authorities and £1.05m will be made available for local authorities to bit for to undertake case studies. Angus Council, where Montrose sits in, will receive £56,375 for coastal change adaptation in 2024-25.
In addition, Angus Council submitted a proposal to fund a case study and an additional £440k will be distributed for this, which is the largest allocation for any local authority to undertake a case study.
Local authorities can choose to additionally fund coastal protection work from their general capital grant allocation.