Apply for Flood Recovery Grants by End of March

Aberdeenshire Council continues to make payments through the Scottish Government Relief Fund to those affected by recent flooding and so far the majority of the £2million fund has been issued (£1.6million).

The number of households benefitting from the £1,500 grant is 857 and 116 payments have been provided to businesses.

In addition, separate business grants of £3,000 have been paid to 55 businesses and the council will be contacting people who may still be eligible.

Chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee Cllr David Aitchison said:

“Over 1000 individuals and businesses have benefitted from the Scottish Government’s Relief Fund being administered locally by Aberdeenshire Council and I’ve been very pleased with the council’s pro-active approach in this regard.

“I encourage those who haven’t applied for a grant to do so as soon as possible.”

Vice Chair Cllr Stephen Smith added:

“I’ve had some very positive feedback about the council’s staff who have been involved in providing help and support to the affected communities and it’s important to recognise that, as well as the multitude of volunteers who came forward to help in the aftermath of the floods.

“It’s good that the relief funding has been reaching those who need it but there may still be others yet to claim and it’s important they do so without delay.”

Director of Infrastructure Services Stephen Archer said:

“We continue to work with communities to recover from flooding from providing help to clear up streets and waterways; repair bridges and roads to the provision of business advice and more.

“The funding support has been welcomed too and we have issued over half of the allocation we received from Scottish Government and processed applications as quickly as possible and I thank our colleagues in finance for their work on this.

“We plan to contact businesses that we know were affected by the flooding to advise them of grant availability if they haven’t already applied as well as checking our own tenants to make sure everyone that is eligible can take advantage.

“I urge those who haven’t already applied to visit the website and apply for funding available before the end of March.”

£1,500 is available to households, static caravan owners, businesses or community groups (such as rugby clubs) where premises have been directly affected by the flooding to enable householders and businesses to protect their home or business against future floods.

Support of £3,000 is also available to businesses that can demonstrate their ability to trade has been severely impacted by the flooding at the beginning of January.

The business grant is being funded separately by Scottish Government and is a one-off payment to offset costs which cannot be covered by existing insurance, for example clean-up costs, materials and exceptional costs to help the business restore trade, such as marketing and promotion.

Only those households and businesses which were directly affected by the flooding in December 2015 and early January 2016 are eligible to apply for the grant.

An online application form is available at: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/flooding-grant-scheme/.

The deadline for application is extended until Thursday, March 31.