Tuesday April 28th 2026
Artists impression shows walls and embankments which will be built as part of the Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme (credit: East Lothian Council)
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Councillors on Tuesday unanimously approved spending £6million on the next stage of planning for a controversial flood scheme which could be scrapped by Scottish Ministers by the end of the year.
The Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme is currently estimated to cost £103million and is currently the subject of a public local inquiry after receiving more than 500 objections from the public.
A meeting of East Lothian councillors today heard that should Scottish Ministers approve the scheme at the end of the inquiry, even with modifications, it is essential they are ‘shovel-ready’ if they want to meed Government deadlines for funding.
New guidelines from the Scottish Government earlier this year capped the total cost of the scheme, which includes protecting around 3,500 homes by building defences along the River Esk in the town and carrying out work on a sea wall, way below the expected cost at just £35.6million.
Eighty per cent of all funding will come from Scottish Government with the council expected to bear 20 per cent of the costs.
The meeting heard that moving forward with stage six of the project which will see a detailed design for the whole scheme and the start of construction procurement, was needed if they were going to meet the deadline to qualify for the funds.
However they were also told that the public inquiry, which is expected to reach a conclusion either by December or early next year, could either approve the scheme as it stands, impose modifications which would need to be brought in or see the whole project closed down.
The Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme (MFPS)has seen costs spiral since it was first put forward in 2016 with an £8.9million bill to the latest figure given by officers of £103million.
A report to councillors on the next stage revealed that a project to restore the sea walls at Musselburgh which had previously been separated from the MFPS costs has now been added back in taking the cost from £53.9million, as previously publicly reported to councillors, up to more than £100million.
Tom Reid, the council’s head of infrastructure, told councillors: “Without the detailed design we would not be able to present our business case and move forward.
“This will mean we will be shovel ready when funding becomes available.”
The report to councillors presented three options for moving forward given the new limit to funding set by the Scottish Government.
The preferred option from officers would be to deliver the areas of greatest and immediate risk covering the upper catchment interventions including the reservoir modifications on the South Esk, the debris management by Whitecraig, and the new physical defences along the river corridor at a total cost still well above the cap of circa £70million.
Musselburgh ward councillor Andy Forrest said it was important the local authority did everything it could to protect people’s homes and the town’s infrastructure in the event of a flood.
He said: “This is a very emotive subject in Musselburgh but for us we have to consider the damage which would be done if the town was to flood. Most of our infrastructure is underground and would be damaged and the devastation to people’s homes would be terrible.”
His comments were backed by fellow councillors with council leader Norman Hampshire telling the meeting: “As councillors we have a duty to serve the people of Musselburgh and we have a duty to make sure Musselburgh does not flood.”
All 19 councillors present approved funding the next stage of the scheme.
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