¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute’s communities deserve the same level of national government support as other areas, following the October storms which caused serious disruption to people’s homes and businesses. and local infrastructure.
This is the message that the Leader of ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ is taking again to the Scottish Government.
Councillor Robin Currie has written again to the Deputy First Minister expressing real concern that local communities are being treated unequally when it comes to support to help them recover from unprecedented rainfall and flooding during October.
Councillor Robin Currie said: “¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute was the worst affected area in Scotland during an unnamed storm over the weekend of 7th and 8th October. Just over a week later, we also had to contend with the impact of Storm Babet, causing further disruption on top of the very severe impact we were already dealing with.
“This council, other partner agencies and our communities and businesses themselves have worked tirelessly to restore access, to keep council services running, and to reopen routes to market for our vital local products and services. All of this needs very significant levels of time and money from all involved.
“We are calling for fair treatment for ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute. We are asking for the same access to funding support that’s being given to other areas affected by Storm Babet. In those communities, the Scottish Government has made available grants for businesses, financial help for those whose homes have been flooded, and options for farmers to apply for funding up to £30,000. However, they have not offered this kind of support to our communities in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute.
“We have repeated our request to the Deputy First Minister for ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute to be treated fairly and equally when it comes to severe weather recovery support. We have once again sent a copy to every parliamentarian elected to represent ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute, asking them to join us in calling for equal access to this vital assistance.
“Recovering from severe weather on the scale that ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute experienced, twice in October alone, has to be a team effort. Everyone in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute is doing our best to build back towards recovery.
“We now need the Scottish Government to play its part, to do the right thing and to do for ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute what it is doing for other parts of Scotland, rather than continuing to exclude our communities from receiving the help they need from their national government.â€