Bill for Hawick flood defences doubles to almost £90m as main contractor announced

A visualisation of how Hawick's forthcoming flood defences, now priced at £88m, will look at the Little Haugh.

Bosses at Scottish Borders Council have hailed the appointment of Northern Ireland-based civil engineering firm McLaughlin and Harvey to take charge of the works as a “significant step forward”.

The cost of the project is now being put at £88m, a figure dwarfing the £60m estimate suggested by council chief executive Tracey Logan in February and exactly double the £44m quoted until then.

The Scottish Government will pick up the lion’s share of that tab – £63m – with £15m being chipped in by the council and £9m by cycling charity Sustrans, plus £665,000 from Scottish Water and £500,000 from Transport Scotland.

A visualisation of how Hawick's forthcoming flood defences, now priced at £88m, will look at the James Thomson bridge.

To date, £7.5m worth of advanced construction works have been completed in the town, since work began in March 2018, paving the way for the main works contractor to get the principal construction project under way.

Despite the rising costs involved, the council says the scheme represents value for money and delivers a saving of £13m by carrying out three other projects at the same time.

Those other elements are the creation of a travel network linking Volunteer Park with the Mansfield Road recycling centre, an upgrade of the A7 at Commercial Road and installation of a new high-capacity pumping station within the town’s wastewater treatment works.

A council spokesperson said: “The total scheme costs will be £88m, including the main works contract, which represents a major investment in the infrastructure of the town of Hawick.

A visualisation of how Hawick's forthcoming flood defences, now priced at £88m, will look at the Common Haugh.

“It is estimated that if these four projects were to be carried out independently of each other, the overall cost would be in the region of £101m.

“It means the scheme represents significant value for money in terms of the public purse.”

Council chief executive Tracey Logan added: “The council is proud to be working with the Scottish Government and other key partners to take forward one of the most comprehensive flood protection schemes ever seen in Scotland.

“As highlighted by the flooding experienced during Storm Dennis earlier this year, the Hawick flood protection scheme is hugely important for the town and the Borders.

Hawick Volunteer Flood Group volunteers Andy Lewis, Marion Chrystie, Stuart Marshall and Mick Robertson with first minister Nicola Sturgeon during her visit to the town following further flooding earlier this year.

“The council has a track record of providing flood protection schemes, including Selkirk’s, which has already prevented millions of pounds worth of damage since it was completed in 2017.”

Holyrood environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “We are all aware of the problems faced by communities at risk from flooding.

“The people of Hawick know this particularly well, and the damage caused by flooding earlier this year and in previous years will still be very clear in everyone’s minds.

“The Hawick scheme is one of the largest to be developed in Scotland.”

“It forms a key part of the Scottish Government’s £420m, 10-year programme of support to local authorities agreed in 2016 to significantly lessen the problems caused by flooding.

“The Scottish Government is therefore very pleased to support Scottish Borders Council by contributing up to £63m from the 2016 fund towards the cost of the Hawick flood protection scheme and recognises the strong partnership approach with Scottish Water and Sustrans’ involvement.”

Hawick Volunteer Flood Group has welcomed today’s announcement, with its chairman, Hawick and Denholm councillor Stuart Marshall, saying: “I’m delighted that at long last we are now in a position to reveal who will be building this massive and much-needed project for our town.

“I think everyone in Hawick, and in particular the 1,000 homes and businesses that are constantly affected by flooding, will be pleased by this announcement as it is undoubtedly yet another major step in getting this project built and, more importantly, delivering it.”

McLaughlin and Harvey’s director of civil engineering, Seamus Devlin, added: “We are delighted and honoured to have been chosen to carry out the works on this major flood protection scheme.

“We look forward to working with the people of Hawick and the client team in order to deliver a world-class flood protection scheme.”

The procurement exercise for the project was launched early last year and saw four detailed tender bids put forward in November to be evaluated.

Councillors voted unanimously in private to approve the appointment of McLaughlin and Harvey at the end of February, and since then detailed discussions have been ongoing regarding start and completion dates for the project in light of the current coronavirus outbreak.

An official opening date for work on the scheme will be announced in due course.