District news - June 10, 2022

Loch Lomond

 

The conservation charity Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs has launched an 'Adopt a Bonnie Banks Bin' scheme to help transform the overall appearance of the busy 13-mile tourist corridor between Arden and Tarbet.

 

The £26,000 project has financial backing from nine local tourism businesses as well as Luss Estates, the park authority, Argyll and Bute Council and environmental company ENVA, the charity's waste disposal and recycling partner.

 

The annual £26,000 cost covers twice weekly rubbish collections for the 20-bin scheme during busy periods.

 

Over the original nine-month pilot period 25 tonnes of litter was collected and 97 per cent of this waste was recycled - much of it being baled to help fuel steelworks.

 

The Friends chairman James Fraser said: 'We were convinced the introduction of bins in busy lochside lay-bys with regular emptying and monitoring would greatly improve the situation, and this has proved to be the case with more visitors now treating the area with more respect and helping to keep the bonnie banks almost litter free.'

 

The charity's work was praised by MSP for the area Jackie Baillie.

 

She said: 'I wish to congratulate the Friends of Loch Lomond on this scheme which has already produced such positive results.

 

'I also wish to thank the partners who have provided their wholehearted support.

 

'Sadly, litter on the A82 at the lochside is a serious problem and has been for a number of years.

 

'It is exacerbated during the summer months when we welcome tourists from home and abroad to see our beautiful area and I am hopeful that, with 20 new bins in the area this summer, we will see a huge benefit and the area will be at its best for visitors and residents alike to enjoy.'

 

Glen Croe

 

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has tested the viability of using drones to plant tree seed on the hillside above the A83 at the Rest and be Thankful.

 

Thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, the trial is part of FLS's project with Transport Scotland that aims to make it more resilient to the impact of heavy rainfall and reduce the number of serious landslips that close the vital route in and out of Argyll.

 

FLS Operations Forester James Hand is overseeing the planting.

 

He said: 'Using drones to plant trees is quite common in North America and parts of Europe, but as far as we are aware it’s new to the UK.

 

'The benefit of using a drone is that it is quicker and more able to scatter seeds on sites that people would find it hard – or even dangerous - to work on.

 

'This first trial was about scattering seeds and determining how fast and high to fly and still achieve the dispersal that we want. It went very well and it’s now a matter of waiting to see how many seedlings emerge.

 

'Next year we plan to step up the trial and use a drone with a gravity-fed system to drop  pellets of seed, containing a nutrient gel, into the soil and exposed mineral slopes. The gel packets should increase the likelihood of the seeds germinating and growing.

 

'If the technology and the technique both work, this could be of significant benefit when we look at increasing the resilience of other sites that are at risk from the changing climate.'

 

Helensburgh

 

Temporary repairs of potholes on Helensburgh's streets have been condemned as 'a waste of money' by a councillor for the town.

 

On Thursday June 2 Helensburgh Central councillor Ian MacQuire questioned the repairs policy at a meeting of Argyll and Bute Council's environment, development and infrastructure committee.

 

He said: 'When potholes are fixed, are they properly sealed? I have seen a few in Helensburgh which have not been sealed; they are just having stones put down.

 

'Within a couple of weeks, they are back up again, which in a way is a waste of money.'

 

His concerns were echoed by council leader Councillor Robin Currie who told the meeting he was aware of similar issues near his home on Islay.

 

He said: 'I very much appreciate the point raised by Councillor MacQuire.

 

'It is an issue I have raised for quite some time now, because, and I will be blunt, I don’t think we are right first time.

 

'To my mind, too many repairs are being done over and over again at a lot of expense.

 

'Just two doors down from my home, the same holes have been done four times in the last 18 months.

 

'I really think we will appreciate any sessions or briefings, but I would also like the team to investigate how we do things.'

 

Head of roads and amenity services Jim Smith responded: 'Our approach is to carry out ‘right first time’ repairs and although that is what we aim to do, there will be some situations, in adverse weather, where we have to carry out temporary repairs and do more permanent work later.

 

'Quite often we can fix a pothole, but the area adjacent to it will fall. It is a combination of right first time and emergency repairs.

 

'We can always do better, but we do have a £100million backlog of maintenance.'

 

Councillor Currie responded: 'I don’t want to labour the point, but I do think we have a problem, and I would appreciate it if the team could look at it.

 

'It is not the money, but how we do things. I remember raising this with a previous director many years ago, who told me that the days of putting down chips and rolling it out with the wheels of a lorry were over, but it continues to go on.

 

'I don’t think that is the correct way of spending our money and our limited resources.'