Flood misery hits council
Offices left needing a big clean-up
Councillors’ offices at Renfrewshire House were flooded after heavy rainfall at the weekend.
The Conservative group’s room suffered the most, with an influx of water damaging some papers which had been left on the floor.
Meanwhile, the Labour group’s area was also hit and Paisley Southeast Councillor Eddie Devine praised local authority employees who were tasked with resolving the situation.
The area was swiftly dehumidified and carpets marked by the flooding will be shampooed.
Councillor Devine said: “I went in on Saturday around lunchtime.
“They were doing a great job clearing it up.
“A lot of people were working hard to get it tidied up. I understand the water came into the housing department and flooded from there into our offices.
“There were dehumidifiers and a lot of people with machines to extract the water from the carpet. It was soaking.”
Last week Renfrewshire Council made the decision to reduce the hours that its headquarters on Cotton Street stay open.
It means the council will not open its building routinely on weekends for staff and councillors because a review deemed it “not cost effective”.
However, those who still wish to work can submit a request in advance.
If a similar incident was to happen while the building is closed, the council confirmed there were measures in place to monitor its facilities.
A spokesman said: “Due to the heavy rainfall, there was a small degree of flooding which affected ground floor offices.
“Our cleaning team have cleared the water and dried the affected areas to return them to normal.
“Roofers have also been on site to ensure there are no outstanding issues and the electrics have all been tested and are safe to operate.
“During periods of adverse weather, arrangements are in place to inspect council buildings such as schools and offices, including Renfrewshire House, so any issues would be discovered promptly and dealt with immediately.”