Scottish Water moves on Bullwood quarry
SCOTTISH Water is to seek a Compulsory Purchase Order to buy the land at Bullwood Quarry which they had earmarked for the site of the Dunoon Secondary Treatment Plant.
There is, however, one minor snag.
Planning permission for the treatment works was turned down by Argyll and Bute councillors at a planning meeting in October.
At that meeting numerous concerns were voiced about the suitability of the site. Among issues raised was the amount of blasting which would have to be carried out to prepare the site for the project.
When the quarry was operational neighbouring houses had suffered considerable damage from blasting; the distance between the quarry and the nearest house is a mere six metres.
Councillor Jimmy McQueen said that his understanding was that 25,000 tonnes of rock would be blasted, and 16,000 tonnes would be removed - equating to 500 lorry movements a month, increasing later to 1,000 a month.
The meeting split 3-2 against the application.
Following the meeting, a Scottish Water spokesman said that the company “would have to reflect on the outcome.” An appeal was possible since they took the view that their proposals would benefit Dunoon.
The quarry was a sensible site, he said, and concluded by saying that “we will keep people informed of our next move.”
The next move, it seems, was the compulsory purchase of the land.
Despite being concerned in the matter, when we spoke to them Argyll and Bute Council had no knowledge of the application, which has gone directly to the Scottish Executive.
A Scottish Water spokesman commented: “I can confirm that we are to serve a compulsory purchase order on the owner of Bullwood Quarry.
In our quest to give Dunoon a modern waste water treatment works to end the 20 outfalls of raw sewage, we had a number of investigations carried out to find the best location for a works.
“Bullwood Quarry is perfect.
“The owner’s agents, James Barr, apparently value the site at £500k whereas the two valuations we’ve had carried out value it at between £220k and £235k. We cannot justify spending twice as much of our customers’ money without good reason, so a Compulsory Purchase Order is the only route available to us.
“We have just submitted our appeal to the Scottish Executive re. the decision by councillors to refuse us planning permission for the works. It could be some months before we hear anything.
Irrespective of any delay, it’s a fact that, to date, Scottish Water has a 100 percent track record in winning planning appeals.
Councillor Brian Chennell was one of two councillors who voted for the scheme, but conditionally on surveys being carried out with the aim of protecting neighbouring properties.
He commented: “I wasn’t aware of the compulsory purchase order or the appeal, though I’m not surprised. My own concern is that when it goes to appeal these issues will not be taken into account.”


Thumbs down for Black Craig
South Cowal Community Council convened a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss the plan to site a wind farm at Black Craig, near Toward.
The wind farm proposal, put forward by local landowner and entrepreneur Mr Peter Blacker, would see 19 turbines over 100 metres high to the blade tip sited on land opposite the Isle of Bute.
While largely out of sight of Cowal residents, they would be very prominent since the site lies opposite Rothesay and Port Bannatyne, and the proposal has attracted considerable opposition from island residents, including the Marquess of Bute.
In recommending refusal of the application, the community council focused on three specific issues:
It felt that insufficient time had been spent on ecological issues within the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment; and that this was particularly the case in relation to ornithological surveys.
It also expressed concerns over the potential impact upon traffic levels in South Cowal during the construction period.
One point of particular note was the view that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was not specific about which transportation route would be used for equipment and materials, and there was no evidence of an agreement or contract being formed to use Ardyne Point.
It was not stipulated within the EIA that all necessary transmission cabling would be buried underground.
Mrs Suzi Gamage, who was co-opted on to the community council because of her interest in wind farms, said there were serious questions arising over a number of issues. “The transport situation was one aspect of concern,” she said. If this project went ahead a lot of excavated material would have to be moved off the site. There was no information on how much, and how many trips it would take to shift it up the A815.
“The EIA is a huge document, but despite that it was seriously lacking in specific detail.”
She also pointed out that the local councillor, Cllr Dick Walsh had successfully argued for the area’s designation to be changed from a preferred area for wind farm development to a constrained area on the basis of the impact on the landscape and the peninsula’s use as a recreational area, and that it was important to support that view.
Objections to the application have also been lodged by Scottish Natural Heritage.
Cowal is not the only area where concerns over the danger to birds are an issue. The giant wind farm on Lewis has attracted the attention of EU officials who are investigating whether it breaches laws designed to protect wildlife habitats.
The plan was originally for 234 turbines, each 460 feet high; this has already been revised by the developer to 181 turbines to take into account the potential effect on wildlife.
However, it’s understood that Brussels takes the view that the company behind the farm, Lewis Wind Turbines, has failed to look at other potential sites across Scotland, which it is obliged to do under EU directives.
Despite the host of planning applications being submitted across Scotland, there are growing doubts about the ability of onshore wind farms to deliver the goods.
While wind farms in Scotland are more efficient than those in the South, even on a good day they will only generate 30 percent of their stated capacity.
The Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) is an independent charity whose aim is to encourage the development of renewable energy while safeguarding the landscape from unsustainable industrialisation.
The REF last week issued a report which assessed the impact of wind farms, and expressed concerns that the output performance varied wildly - with power swings in January being of the order of 70 percent.
While the government is driving a campaign to derive more than 15 percent of our power requirement from wind power, there are doubts about whether this is possible.
Critics contend that the sheer unpredictability of wind power would require a backup of 12 conventional power stations to compensate for periods when there was no wind.
A huge power blackout in western Europe last month was caused in part by the fact that 18,000 turbines in Germany are expected to provide six percent of the country’s power.
The notion that it is free also takes a knock. The viability of turbines is dependent on a subsidy paid by consumers. which effectively doubles the cost.
To generate 15 percent of power from windfarms by 2015 will require a massive construction programme - currently windfarms contribute just 0.5 percent.
There is a further issue. The distribution of power from the planned 7,000 turbines in Scotland; the bulk of the power requirements for these turbines will be south of the border, but currently there is no infrastructure in place to get the electricity to where it is needed.
There are serious concerns that an over-emphasis on wind power and imported gas will create critical shortfalls over the next decade, since - in the absence of any replacements - the 50 percent of power requirements currently supplied by coal and nuclear energy will be gone.


Post Offices under threat
RURAL communities in Cowal face a further threat to their viability from a plan to ‘rationalise’ the post office network.
The plan will see the number of post offices plummet by 2,500 over the next 18 months.
The cuts, said Trade and Industry Secretary Alastair Darling, were brought about by a drop in business and losses of £4m per week.
The Post Office’s chief executive, Adam Crozier, has said that only a third of the existing post offices are a commercial proposition, but Darling is believed to be against slashing the network to this extent on the basis of the social needs of rural areas.
However, the government is already perceived as having an urban mentality, oblivious of the needs of rural areas.
Business which used to be the lifeblood of rural post offices has been haemorraging away over the last decade.
It used to be the norm for the post office to deal with pensions and benefits; however nowadays claimants are encouraged to have them paid directly into bank accounts. Similarly, customers can no longer buy their television licences at post offices. This contract for this has been awarded to Paypoint. This has more outlets, but tends to be concentrated in towns; there are no Paypoint outlets in Cowal outside Dunoon. Scottish Gas meter customers in some areas of Cowal also discovered that a change to new meters meant they could no longer top up their cards at their local post offices, which meant a further loss of scarce business for sub-post offices.
The viability of post offices has been jeopardised even more by the decision of the Department of Work and Pensions to stop the Post Office Card Account, which will effectively bring to an an end the over the counter benefits and pensions, which are still used by around two million people without bank accounts. Although plans are supposedly under way to provide an alternative, they have yet to materialise.
Under the government’s plans, some rural post offices will be replaced by mobile vans and branches in churches, libraries and petrol stations. Counter services could even be set up in ice cream vans.
The current climate of uncertainty has caused genuine concern in local Cowal branches and across Argyll. Rural Post Offices provide a vital service for a large number of local residents across Argyll, not least elderly people and those without the means to travel to more urban locations.
Concerns were voiced by Pauline Livingstone, who is co-ordinator of Cowal Elderly Befrienders, who said that any cutbacks in rural post offices would have a major impact on elderly people.
She said: “For many elderly folk living in villages, the post office is their main point of contact with the community. They pick up their pensions there, shop and generally socialise. It’s a major part of their lives, and the loss of the post office would be a real blow. It’s also the case that the people who run the post offices keep an eye on their customers, and are quick to spot the absence of a regular and check that there’s nothing amiss.”
One local post office owner, who runs an adjoining general store business, confirmed that loss of the post office would have a devastating effect on their business. With a rising number of elderly residents, there was also widespread concern amongst Cowal post office businesses for their existing customers. In outlying areas with few local amenities as things stand, the closure of this service would force many residents to travel in the region of 20 miles to find a Post Office to service their needs.
Strachur postmistress Rae Black, who also chairs the community council, said “This will have really disastrous results for many residents, and will make things really difficult for the elderly. For many older people, the weekly trip to the Post Office is a vital lifeline and serves as their only communication with the outside world for the entire week.”
There is a widespread feeling across the region that the government has lost touch with rural communities and the needs of elderly and infirm. It remains to be seen to what extent the changes mooted within the Post Office confirm those suspicions.
Commmenting on the situation, local MP Alan Reid said, “This is the death knell for thousands of local shops and rural businesses that depend on their local post office. Rural communities will feel betrayed by these mass Post Office closures.
“If the Government’s plans are implemented we will see village Post Offices closed and replaced with a mobile office that will only visit the village once a week. This is unacceptable.
“It is not only villages that will suffer the loss of Post Offices if the Government’s plans are implemented. Post Offices in and around the towns of Argyll and Bute will be shut down as well.
“I will back local communities in their fight to keep their Post Offices open.”
The closure programme is expected to begin next summer.


Neighbourly support for landslide victims
Their house, Springfield, lies abandoned as the weight of hundreds of tons of soil lies against the rear of the building. For Jeff and Marion Douglas, the shock of finding themselves in the path of last week’s landslip between Kilbride Road and Broomfield Drive is still raw.
Forced to leave their home on Wednesday December 13, Mr and Mrs Douglas stayed with their daughter for a couple of nights, then to bed and breakfast accommodation. They have since moved to accommodation in Sandbank which will remain their home for the foreseeable future.
Mr Douglas explained “We heard from the council on Sunday morning (December 17) when they telephoned to say that work would begin the following day to start clearing up.”
Argyll and Bute Council began the task of clearing away the debris left by the landslide on Wednesday December 20, after having to clear a path for machinery into the difficult-to-access site.
Once the clear-up is complete, the semi-detached property will need to be surveyed in order to assess any structural damage. “The house was constructed in 1924 and is solidly built - I think that partly saved us. We are also fully insured, which has turned out to be money well spent” said Mr Douglas.
Still coming to terms with the shock of events, Mr Douglas recalled the fateful evening “We were putting up Christmas decorations and watching a bit of television in the living room, when all of a sudden there was a roar. I thought the roof was coming off the house. We eventually went through to the back of the house, and our tumble drier, which had been sitting against the rear wall of our utility room, met us at the doorway into the hall - it had been shunted across the room by the impact of the landslide. We were trapped in the house, and the only way we could escape was through a front facing window.” This remains the only means of access to the stricken property, with Mr and Mrs Douglas forced to use the window by means of a step ladder to check the property from time to time.
With Christmas just days away, Mr and Mrs Douglas face uncertainty and upheaval during the festive period and beyond. In the spirit of the season, however, the people of Dunoon have rallied round. Mr Douglas was greatly heartened by the support he and his wife have received from local people. “Our neighbours have been great. We have also received practical support from folk around the town. People have given us offers of help including accommodation and help to move our furniture and belongings.”
It may be some months before the dust begins to settle and a semblance of normality returns for Jeff and Marion Douglas. In the meantime, the help and support of friends, neighbours and townsfolk more widely are making the uncertain early days easier to bear.