A Monifieth pensioner has seen his idyllic garden destroyed by flood water he believes has erupted as a result building work in the area.
James Doig, 78, has said that he and his wife have been reduced to tears as a result of the devastation wrought on his treasured garden by waters since February of last year.
He has spent a considerable amount of money trying to salvage the area, which has taken a large chunk out of his modest retirement savings.
Mr Doig has been trying to understand why his garden has spent over a year being flooded, and is concerned that building works throughout Monifieth might be responsible.
He is upset that no one seems to be taking responsibility for the issue and said he had been told by one official that he had hit a “brick wall”.
He said: “We have been dealing with this since February of 2015.
“The whole experience is wearing us down.
“My main worry is that it has eaten in to our retirement savings, and if I pass away I want to be able to leave my wife enough money to live on.”
Paul Heady, of the Scottish Flood Forum, believes that the council’s explanation of the flooding being caused by “groundwater” is not consistent.
“The difficulty with Mr Doig’s case is that without extensive and expensive deep excavations to the site, we won’t be able to source why so much flooding is occurring,” he said.
“As part of our investigations, we studied old survey maps of Monifieth to try and trace where the water is coming from, which proved inconclusive.
“I think that it might be being caused by old field drains, and the difficulty if that is the case is that the owners of the property are responsible for it.
“Through no fault of his own, James is facing more work and more expense in what is an increasingly stressful situation.
“The amount of building work that has occurred in Monifieth over the years could be a probable cause of why such extensive flooding is localised in Mr Doig’s garden.”
Monifieth councillor Craig Fotheringham has been involved with Mr Doig’s case, and moved to assure him that council officers would continue to assist the Doig’s.
A spokesperson for Angus Council said: “We have been aware of flooding affecting the property at Fontstane Street, Monifieth over recent months.
“Council engineers have visited the site to assess the cause of the problem in several occasions. Our conclusion is that the main source of flooding is groundwater.
“This is consistent with the history of this area with a well located nearby and the proximity of the ‘font stone”, which is the derivative of the street name.
“We have offered advice to the affected resident on mitigation works, which have identified a land drain on the property. Localised land drains and groundwater flooding are the responsibility of the landowner, however, Council engineers will continue to assist where we can.”
