Crovie residents who have been anxious about access since last year’s main road landslip are now seeing real work under way.
Since a large section of the road gave way in heavy rain last September, residents and business owners in the village have understandably felt isolated by the long period without vehicle access. Geotechnical and rope access company Geo-Rope Ltd are now on site and the project is expected to take between eight and 10 weeks.
The landslip work is costing Aberdeenshire Council hundreds of thousands of pounds, but this is just one of a slew of communities affected by erosion in Banff and Buchan.
There have also been problems all along the coastline at Gardenstown, Port Rae pier in Rosehearty, Palmer Cove at the mouth of the Deveron, and Portknockie, among other places.
These large erosion events cost so much money to set right.
The Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 gave local authorities discretionary powers to make and build flood prevention schemes.
But there is no national strategy to support communities at risk, and the SNP Government is spending money piecemeal on projects without thinking about how one set of coastal defences will help another.
Coastal communities all over the UK will have similar issues and we need to explore ways in which towns and villages can access funding to help combat the problem of erosion and protect local residents and businesses.
One of the main economic drivers across Banff and Buchan is tourism and the landslips in Crovie and Gardenstown in particular have caused concerns for owners of holiday let properties.
Very often, it will fall to the local council or private landowners to act, but I think we need to approach this as a national issue.
We can’t leave the prosperity of our towns and villages to chance and hopes for mild winters.
One thing that local businesses can do to boost tourism is think about self-promotion.
Yes, we have Scottish agencies such as VisitScotland and VisitAberdeenshire to help the world discover our destinations, history and hospitality.
Letting someone else do it seems easy enough but I feel a lot of places are missing a trick by entrusting their public image to other people.
I regularly meet with representatives from VisitScotland and have engaged with them on their #ScotlandNow campaign. This is an online publication produced in Scotland for a global audience. Campaigns like this are valuable, but there’s an understandable amount of competition in a huge, Scotland-wide playing field.
We need to learn how to fight our natural modesty and tendency in the North East to avoid self-promotion and come forward with what is truly great and amazing about our coastal and rural communities across Banff and Buchan.
There are massive opportunities on the horizon, which Banffshire is well placed to capitalise on.
The expansion of Aberdeen Harbour to accommodate more and larger cruise ships brings with it opportunities to attract visitors to the area from all over the world. But, unless they know what Banff and Buchan has to offer, they may limit their excursions to venues only in the immediate vicinity of Aberdeen City.
I would encourage readers to think about what could attract visitors to your area and contact myself or local business associations with ideas of how to help promote tourism.