Emergency access being hindered by work vans
AN OBAN pensioner is up in arms about work vans parking outside his home and ‘hindering emergency services’.
Angus MacPhee, who originally hails from Colonsay, now lives in Lynn Gardens.
He said the problem started when work began on the new Oban High School.
‘When the ambulance came in the other day after a woman had a severe stroke, what a job it had reversing out,’ the 69-year-old said.
‘They are not stopping them, but they are hindering them. It’s got to stop. It’s up to the site manager to get them out of there.’
Mr MacPhee lives in an area where he says the average age is around 75 and is concerned for some of his neighbours.
He said: ‘[A neighbour] can just about make it from his house to his car.
‘He likes to go out in the morning to get his paper, but now he is scared to leave before 10am because he is frightened he will lose his space.
‘The minute a resident goes out, within a minute someone goes in. There were only three cars there before the work started. This morning the bin lorry had a hell of a job to get in.’
Mr MacPhee, who has limited mobility, uses a taxi to get around.
‘I came back with my shopping today,’ he said. ‘And it had to park in the middle of the road.’
The former Colonsay man is frustrated, because there are alternative car parks in town.
‘They say they don’t like using the big one because someone might break in and it’s “two miles away”,’ he said.
‘They just don’t want to walk. They have no tools, because I watch.
‘So not only do they want to park in our spaces, they want us to watch their cars for them.
‘We wouldn’t mind if it was the odd one.
‘They keep saying it’s a public highway, so they can park there, but it’s morally and ethically wrong.
‘They are hindering health services getting into us. It’s not right and it’s not fair.
‘Especially when they have alternative parking.’
A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council said: ‘Although we have no control over where our contractors park, we will pass on these comments and ask that they take them into consideration.’
The £36 million high school is set to be completed by the end of the Easter Holidays, which start at the end of March. Four additional days holiday have been allocated for Oban High School’s pupils, while staff move into the new building.