Workshops to tackle Scottish Borders flooding

Three workshops are being held in Hawick to discuss plans for tackling and minimising flood damage in the town.

The first takes place in the High School’s assembly hall on Tuesday 29 September from 6pm to 9.30pm.

It's part of the Scottish Borders Climate Resilient Communities project, which is one of two in the UK to be funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation climate change and communities programme.

The £100,000 scheme aims to help Scottish Borders Council (SBC) work alongside local community resilience groups, with Hawick, Newcastleton and Peebles chosen to take part in the 16 month programme.

The first workshop has already been held in Peebles earlier this month, with a series of important issues identified by groups in the town.

They focussed on how older people and young working families are effected by climate change in the town and less visible longer term issues which may affect the lives of members of the public, such as food prices.

Workshop participants believed good activities were already underway in the town, but felt it was important to strengthen these. They also identified another key focus as supporting people to improve the resilience of Peebles as a community.

Hawick and Peebles were chosen because of major flooding events in past years and the existing community groups’ focus on flooding resilience.