Edinburgh flood defence costs soar to £30 million THE final cost of delivering a major flood defence project in Edinburgh will reach almost £30 million - a total of £12m more than the original estimate, The Scotsman can reveal. The Water of Leith defence scheme is set for completion later this year after a dispute with the private firm contracted to carry out the work. Edinburgh City Council had put aside £17.8m - £11.5m for construction with the remainder for design and compensation - for the first of three stages. However, mediation and unexpected delays of more than a year have pushed costs upwards. Critics claim that an ambiguous contract drawn up by lawyers at Scotland's second largest local authority led to a dispute with contractors Lagan Construction, in a near-repeat of the row with the German firm Bilfinger, which caused huge delays to the Edinburgh trams route. Extra funds of £1.1m will also have to be found to cover compensation for homeowners, a huge rise on the £229,000 originally estimated. Overall costs now stand at £23.5m for construction and £29.1m in total. The scheme was initiated after about 500 properties were flooded in 2000, causing an estimated £25m of damage. Joanna Mowat, transport and environment spokeswoman for the Conservative opposition group on the Labour-SNP council, said it was clear that, as with the tram project, the contract had let the scheme down. She said: "This is another embarrassing hangover from poor contract construction, where we have had to go back and renegotiate with a contractor. We need to look at exactly how this happened, and why we keep getting unfavourable contracts, because it's not delivering value for the taxpayer. Homeowners have been keen to see their properties protected but many have claimed the project, which includes large metal "demountable barrier systems," has been "over-engineered." Bill Sinclair, 77, of Stockbridge, has previously said last year the project was not necessary on its current scale. "I had to leave my house for ten days while the pile-driving was going on," he said. The whole building was shaking. Ornaments were falling off shelves. This wonderful house has sat here for 180 years and within a matter of weeks there were cracks in the walls and I can't open the door properly. The stress has been unbelievable. Nigel Bagshaw, Green councillor for the area, said: "This project has been subject to over-engineering, in terms of the environmental cost - with the number of trees cut down, the financial cost, and the impact on peoples lives." Paul Edie, the leader of the Liberal Democrats said that lessons had to be learned. He said: "This is another project where we have made a similar error to the trams, although not on the same scale, with regard to the signing of the contract." Lesley Hinds, the city's environment leader, said: "The mediation process has come to a conclusion, enabling the scheme to move forward, with cost and time certainty."