Bid to force rethink on Whitesands flood plan fails

A bid to overturn the decision to adopt the £25m scheme was thrown out

A councillor has failed in his bid to force Dumfries and Galloway Council to rethink its support for a major flood defence plan.

Ian Carruthers used a recall rule to force an emergency meeting of the local authority on the Whitesands scheme in Dumfries.

But his call to reverse the council's decision and suspend the process was voted down, 22 votes to 12.

Council leader Ronnie Nicolson warned that delays could jeopardise funding.

It could see the authority overtaken by other regions in the queue for Scottish government funding, he said.

Mr Nicolson added: "There's people biting at our heels to actually get a hold of that money for other schemes in other areas of Scotland and I'm not going to let that happen."

The meeting of the full council came after the council agreed to formally publish its plans for the Whitesands and adopt them as a flood protection scheme.

It also emerged that the estimated cost of the project has risen to £25m from between £15m and £17.5m.

The Whitesands area of Dumfries floods on a regular basis

It would see a raised walkway built along the waterfront as well as walled sections with glass panels.

Mr Carruthers said he had received many objections to the plan for the Whitesands.

"Most of Dumfries don't want it," he said. "I haven't had anybody at all telling me they want to see it happening.

"Today was a real opportunity to see that being reversed, to have a look at it again, take stock...to look at the costs and see what was actually achievable.

"But the council have decided not to do that."