£3m will save families from crumbling cliffs

FAMILIES living in the shadow of an unstable cliff face yesterday welcomed a £3 million funding package to prevent a major landslide above their homes.

Finance secretary John Swinney yesterday announced a scheme to stabilise the slopes of Bervie Braes in Stonehaven. Soil nails – huge metal rods – will be driven into the Aberdeenshire cliffs.

The Scottish Government is to fund two thirds of the scheme while Aberdeenshire Council provides the remaining 1m.

Last month scores of residents living in houses lying below the Bervie Braes were forced to flee their homes over fears a catastrophic landslip could engulf the harbour area of the town.

The evacuation began following two "significant" landslips on the steep cliff face that towers over the southern end of the town. One of the slips badly damaged a former tollhouse at one end of the cliffs.

Mr Swinney visited the town three weeks ago to see the damage as calls grew for urgent action to protect the 65 homes lying directly beneath the Bervie Braes.

He said: "On a recent visit to Bervie Braes I was struck by the scale of the problems that residents have experienced and I very much sympathise with the difficulties they have faced.

"This problem has been in existence for many, many years, and I recognised that it has become more serious in recent weeks."

The announcement was welcomed by residents and the local community council, which had led the call for urgent action to protect the threatened houses.

David Fleming, the chairman of Stonehaven Community Council, said the residents affected were breathing a "huge sigh of relief" following the announcement.