No hopes of quick fix for flood-prone Earlston road

Heavy rain and flash flooding caused problems on the region’s roads, and once again the A6105 Earlston-to-Gordon road was worst hit.

Deep standing water left a 100-metre stretch of the road near the entrance to Earlston High School impassable in scenes like those of August 11.

Several houses and the school were cut off, but the water cleared for school transport arriving the next day.

A mixture of burns bursting their banks and water running from fields was blamed.

Scottish Borders Council says it is aware of the problem and is investigating.

A spokesperson said: “Surface water flooding issues were highlighted as part of a flood study in the Earlston area, and these are currently being investigated by the roads and flooding sections of the council to determine the best options to reduce the impacts at this location.”

The most recent report from that study, by Mott Macdonald and Yorkshire-based JBA Consulting, suggests it could be another two years at least before any measures are put in place, however.

It looked at significant floods in the village in 2002, 2003, 2012 and 2015 and admitted: “Earlston is at flood risk from the Leader Water and Turfford Burn.”

It rules out a number of preventative measures including demountable defences, channelling and control structures and suggests property-level protection as the only cost-effective solution.

If that idea is taken forward properties would be better protected, but “flood waters will continue to flood roads, limiting access”.