Flooding risks – Vital that Big Freeze chaos is not repeated

Below is the letter sent from John Scott MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs & the Environment, to the Environment Minister today – following concerns that a thaw in the adverse weather conditions could lead to serious flooding risks.

Dear Roseanna

Risk of Flooding from Snow Melt

I am writing to raise my concerns over the government's response to recent snowfalls, when notwithstanding the extraordinary efforts of local authority staff and road management companies, much of Scotland has come to a standstill.

From my understanding of the situation, wires appear to have been crossed between the weather forecasters and Scottish Ministers and a lack of communication, interpretation and understanding of the threat posed by the most recent snowfall has self evidently occurred.

My further concern in writing to you now is to make certain that when temperatures rise, towards the end of the week, or whenever a thaw sets in, and given the large amounts of snowfall, that all flood risk management protocols and procedures have been activated and put in place.

While I assume the Scottish Government Resilience Committee is now prepared for the potential of flooding and that you doubtless have discussed these matters with SEPA and local authorities, such as Perth and Kinross, I would nonetheless be grateful for your assurances that a state of awareness of a high risk of flooding exists within all the relevant public agencies.

I look forward to your early response as it is apparent that temperatures are set to rise markedly on Thursday.

Kind regards,

Yours sincerely

John Scott MSP

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