Landslide CHAOS
A83 CLOSED “FOR FORESEEABLE FUTURE”
A long section of the A83 was closed in both directions from the early hours of Sunday morning after a landslide completely covered a section of the road at the Rest and be Thankful.
On Wednesday, one lane of the road was temporarily reopened, however due to heavy overnight rain the road was closed indefinitely again on Thursday.
On Sunday morning the emergency services arrived at the scene in Glen Croe, and at 3.20am the road was officially shut to traffic.
The fire service was alerted to the fact that a car, with three passengers in it, was trapped in the mud which reached four feet deep at points. Luckily, however, the occupants of the car were released uninjured.
A subsequent landslip on the underside of the road then took place, however no vehicles were on the road at this time.
A total of 400 tons of soil and rock tumbled on to the road after being loosened by several months of rainfall.
On Monday, John McFadzean of road management agency TranServ said: “Our geotechnical staff are investigating the extent of the damage and assessing what steps might be necesssary to secure it.
“There is no way that we will put anyone at danger until the road is deemed safe. It will definitely not open today, however.”
Given the volume of traffic that uses the A83 daily Western Ferries was busier than usual in the days immediately following the landslide. To help the congestion, however, the company decided to put more ferries on, and have additional sailings.
Managing Director of Western Ferries, Gordon Ross, said: “There was a lot more traffic, particularly on Monday morning, so we put all four boats on and ran a service every 15 minutes during the day. We also ran additional services in the evening as we were aware that people would have to get back home.
“As ever, we will do everything we can to continue to provide the best service possible to the public, in order to help out during this time.”
On Tuesday, Argyll and Bute MSP Jim Mather stated his concerns about the enforced closure of the road.
Mr Mather said: “I fully appreciate the hardship that this closure will cause because it has happened before, at almost the same location, and from what I hear of initial assessments, this could take some time to clear.
“Preliminary surveys are taking place both above the locus of the incident where much of the hillside appears to be unstable and below the road where possible damage caused by the landslip has to be carefully assessed before the road can be safely re-opened.
“I have already been in touch with Scotland TranServ and they are well aware of the absolute importance of prioritising the re-opening of this lifeline route to Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Islay. While not the only route for Dunoon, the A83 is also well used by Cowal folk.
“Because of the geography of Argyll and Bute the only alternative overland route is much longer, adding around 45 miles to an already long haul, and while cross Clyde ferries into Cowal and at Portavadie are available they will not meet the needs of all traffic. Kintyre and Islay are particularly dependent upon the A83 being available.
“Clearly we must ensure that every effort is made to reopen the route as quickly as possible within safety restraints and then assess the problems faced by this stretch of road to investigate what can be done to minimise such delays in future.
“With this in mind I have already been in discussion with TranServ, with HITRANS and with the Minister for Transport and will keep these lines of communication open.”
On Wednesday morning at 8am the road was partially reopened with traffic being managed using temporary traffic lights although John McFadzean was keen to stress that the road would only be open during daylight hours, between 8am and 4pm.
At the time he said: “A single lane of the road will be open between the hours of 8am and 4pm until further notice. The stability of the slope above the road is still in question so until the investigation is complete the road will only be open during the day.”
In a constantly changing scenario, however, on Wednesday night the decision was made to close the road completely, for the foreseeable future.
The heavy rain shifted loose rock and debris from the hillside, thus making the area unsafe once again.
On Thursday morning Mr McFadzean said: “The decision was made last night to close the road until the loose rocks are washed away in a controlled environment.
“We will not reopen it until engineers confirm that the hill is safe, and at that point one lane will be open. There has been damage caused to the underside of one side of the road, hence the fact that once the hill is safe, we will still only have one lane operational.
“I’d like to stress that everything that we are doing is for the safety of the public, which is obviously paramount.”
A landslip at the same place three years ago led to the road’s closure, however it was only for a couple of days and did not cause as much mayhem as this latest incident.


Barrier to be erected at scene of tragedy
argyll and Bute Council has agreed to erect a barrier and improve the street lighting at the scene of a tragic accident which took place in Dunoon on September 17.
75-year-old Duncan MacGillivray died after his car drove off the side of the Coal Pier car park in Dunoon sparking outrage from his distraught family as well as wide-spread condemnation, aimed primarily at the council, on how the tragedy was allowed to happen.
A council spokesperson said: “Whilst the details of the recent tragic accident are still unknown, the council is erecting a barrier on the north side of the jetty, similar to that on the south side, and street lighting will be improved as the area is open for use in the hours of darkness.
“The works will be funded from the parking charges income and once completed the car park will be reopened for use.
“There are numerous coastal facilities throughout Argyll and Bute where vehicle access can be gained and each location will be considered on merit.”
The decision has resulted in mixed emotions from Mr MacGillivray’s family.
Duncan MacGillivray Jnr said: “I’m glad this is happening, however it actually makes me even more angry over the whole situation. The council has known for years that this part of the car park was unsafe, but it became complacent.
“After the accident the car park should have been closed straight away; it should not have remained open for days.
It was unsafe, not just for cars, but for pedestrians as well.”
Duncan senior’s cousin, Alastair, said: “It’s an absolute shame that it has taken an incident like this to make the area safer. The whole situation is tragic, however I’m glad that the council has decided to take this action.”
What now remains to be seen is if there will be any ramifications as a result of the council’s admission, implicit by its actions, that the area could have been safer in the first instance.
In other words, why is a barrier only deemed necessary now?


YELLOW LINES DECISION
– Council urged to ‘do the right thing’
Residents of Dunoon’s Alexander Street are asking Argyll and Bute Council to “do the right thing” after the release of a report from the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO) relating to a complaint about the placing of yellow lines in the street last year. The lines appeared on the seaward side of the street in August 2006. The council had advertised its intentions to impose “traffic restrictions in various streets in Dunoon” and residents were outraged to discover Alexander Street was one of them. Concerns were expressed about the lack of specific information on the council’s proposals, thus removing the opportunity to object.
A residents campaign group was formed to fight the council’s decision, and a complaint made to the SPSO late in September 2006.
On October 24, the SPSO report was released, and within this, the residents’ complaint was upheld.
COMPLAINT
The official complaint related to a specific individual, referred to as “Mr C”, stating that “the notification of a proposed Traffic Order (by Argyll and Bute Council) was inadequate and this led to a reduced opportunity for Mr C, as an affected resident, to participate in the consultation on the proposals.”
The report makes specific recommendations to the council, namely that it should apologise to Mr C for shortcomings in the notification process, and that a review of the way it notifies Traffic Orders should be undertaken. In particular, attention was drawn to the wording of advertisements, and informing residents considered likely to be affected by proposed changes.
CAMPAIGNER
Local campaigner and resident James McPherson commented: “The SPSO report means that the council has been brought to book. The matter was handled wrongly from the start and I have seen nothing other than spurious reasons given by the council for their siting of the yellow lines on Alexander Street.
“This campaign has not been about getting an apology, but about making sure that Argyll and Bute Council does the right thing by its residents, and I am anxious to see that they will now do so.”
Eliot Peterson, who spoke on behalf of the residents’ group at January’s council Area Committee meeting, said: “The SPSO report is a success after year-long campaign to try to get the council to realise that it was wrong.
“We look forward to the council’s response and hope that an amicable solution can be sorted out with street residents.
“Questions must be asked about whether the lines can be legally enforced in light of the SPSO’s findings.”
Mr Peterson was keen to thank all those who had supported the campaign and who had donated funds to procure legal advice. He pointed out that the group had obtained two professional legal opinions stating that the yellow lines were not legally enforceable.
“The yellow lines have caused nothing but problems,” said another man. “Relations between neighbours have become more strained as parking places are at a premium. And the street has become like a race track without parked cars to naturally slow things down.”
COUNCIL
Ex-councillor Gordon McKinven, who was involved as the campaign began, said: “The council should do the right thing and remove these lines. The councillors never asked for the whole street to have double yellow lines, only for the corners.
The council seems to have forgotten that it is here to serve the people, not just to do what it wants.”
POLICE
A Strathclyde Police spokesperson commented: “Argyll and Bute Council has confirmed that the Traffic Order was upheld. This means the restrictions are enforceable and fixed penalty tickets can be issued where yellow lines are present.’’
Earlier this week, an Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson said that the yellow lines would remain in situ, confirming that the lines would not be removed.
On the subject of reviewing notification procedures, the council said: “The SPSO did not state that the council’s method was incorrect, rather improvements could be made. A review has been completed and where there are multiple streets / roads involved in the future we will ensure that they are referred to on an individual basis.”
As we went to press, local residents were considering their next move in this case.


Cairndow Tragedy
58-year-old Margaret McMenemy, a classroom assistant at Oban High School, died following a road crash involving three cars on the A83 at Cairndow last Saturday (October 27).
Around 4.10pm, a Renault Laguna being driven by Margaret’s husband Gerry, a modern studies teacher at the same school, was heading northbound on the A83 near to Cairndow when it appears that the vehicle lost control.
The car overturned and collided with a Renault Clio which was being driven southbound by a 57 year-old woman and also a Toyota Avensis also being driven southbound by a 74-year-old man.
Emergency services attended but Mrs McMenemy died at the scene.
Her husband was taken by air-ambulance to Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital where he is being treated for internal injuries. Hospital staff describe his condition as critical.
The 74-year-old driver of the Toyota Avensis and his 73 year-old female passenger were also taken by ambulance to Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital where they are being treated for their injuries. Hospital staff describe both their conditions as serious.
The female driver of the Renault Clio and her female passenger did not require medical treatment however, but were both badly shaken as a result of the crash.
Constable Richard Kay at Campbeltown Road Policing Department is appealing for any witnesses to the crash to contact his office on 01586 862200.