ABOUT 90 letters of objection to the Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme (MFPS) have been handed into East Lothian Council’s headquarters in Haddington.

Ninety-six-year-old George Wanless, former chairman of East Lothian District Council, and Christine Schaffer delivered the letters to the reception at John Muir House on April 24, the deadline day for objections and representations to the controversial scheme.

Following the presentation of the outline design to East Lothian Council in January, the go-ahead was given to move to the formal, statutory approval process.

The community had the chance to view and comment on the proposals.

READ MORE: First look at how proposed Musselburgh flood defences could look

Mrs Schaffer said: “We anticipate that the number of letters submitted will be much greater than the 90 letters that we delivered by hand, as some people will have emailed theirs and some letters will have been posted or hand delivered.

“This number is much greater than was submitted in Hawick [regarding the town’s flood protection scheme], the Scottish Borders Council report states they received 48 objections.

“We are concerned about how the objections will be managed and that they will not be managed objectively/independently. We are concerned that it will be the same team who have made the proposals who will deal with the objections, and that at this stage there is no public clarity about the process that will be used to manage these objections.”

That view was reiterated by local resident Roger Crofts, who wrote to the council’s chief executive and service manager, governance, to request that the council publicly announced how it would review the objections to the scheme.

He said: “For us as residents of Musselburgh, it is very concerning that the council cannot give us any indication publicly about how it will handle the objection process.

“This is extraordinary and raises questions about its competence to handle these matters objectively and sensitively.

“We as residents affected by the flood scheme proposals demand an answer that satisfies our request for a balanced, objective and neutral process led by independent outsiders.”

A council spokesperson told the Courier: “Now that the formal consultation undertaken through the scheme notification period for the scheme has ended, the council rather than consultants will lead and consider the communications that it has received. This will be the subject of a further report to a full council meeting to update members on the outcomes of the consultation/notification period and next steps for the scheme.

“Depending on whether valid objections are received, the council and potentially the Scottish Government will consider the Musselburgh Flood Prevention Scheme and decide whether to confirm it with or without modification, or to reject.”

The council has previously explained that the scheme would “provide formal flood protection to around 3,000 properties in the town at risk from a major flood event”.

Opponents of the MFPS, which also includes the introduction of walls through the town centre, want it paused, claiming not enough work has been carried out to find “natural solutions” instead.

This is the second time that Mr Wanless has led a protest against aspects of the flood protection scheme.

READ MORE: Protest held against flood protection scheme

He previously joined a number of opponents outside John Muir House to re-present a petition, which had previously been rejected by the council.