Council to take couple's flooding issue 'to the top'

Hugh and Kathleen Carmichael’s home, which lies next to the Black Lynn Burn, has been anything but a safe haven for the couple. 

The property sits at the lowest point of Soroba Road, where all the flood water from the Black Lynn collects.

The couple moved into the house in 1979 and have had to deal with rising waters ever since, including seven major flooding incidents, the most recent of which came last October. 

That flood forced them to evacuate their home and they have still to replace their carpets or carry out repair work, fearful that another flood would just wash away any progress. 

Since October’s flooding Scotland has seen one of the wettest summers on record, which has left Hugh in a state of constant anxiety. 

"I’m always on the TV with the weather on," Hugh said. "I’m up when it rains and I sleep when it’s sunny, and we haven’t had a lot of that this year."

Hugh has been forced awake in the middle of the night multiple times to turn on the pumps he and Kathleen installed in their home, unfortunately there is nowhere for the water to go except the pavement outside. 

But on Thursday August 29 Argyll and Bute Council sent experts to look at the house, the Black Lynn, and the surrounding area. 

They are due to write up a report on the matter, which is expected to go ’right to the top’ of the council. 

This comes after Oban Community Council alleged the previous report on the Black Lynn flooding was "ignored" by council chiefs.