Shingle bank to be built near Moray village

Folk have been asked to stop taking driftwood from the beach at Kingston because it could be adding to the threat of flooding from the Moray Firth

The plea was made yesterday as Moray Council gave the go-ahead to spend £75,000 on building a shingle bank along a 150-metre stretch of the village's coastline

This measure comes amid concerns that the council-owned Lein car park, which stands on the west side of the village, could be lost due to ongoing coastal erosion.

Work will take place to build the bank so that it connects to the large shingle mound that already exists nearer to the main part of Kingston.

Shona Morrison (Fochabers/Lhanbryde, SNP) brought up the issue of the driftwood, questioning whether it helped to form a barrier against incoming waves.

Speaking at yesterday's meeting on the economic development committee, she said: "There’s been a surge in households with wood-burning stoves.

"A lot of the timber and driftwood previously scattered around the beach perhaps forms structure in the shingle, and those areas have been pretty much been picked clean."

Will Burnish, a senior engineering engineer with the council, replied that efforts would be made to encourage the public to stop removing driftwood.

The cash to pay for building the 19-inch high shingle bank will come from the Scottish Government coastal change adaptation fund.

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