Fears relief road site is fly-tipping hot spot
Resident begs council to clean up‘dump’
A Ruthergen woman has pleaded with South Lanarkshire Council to tidy up debris caused by the controversial Cathkin relief road development.
Dawn Devlin, of Larchfield Drive, believes greenspace near the road, officially named Willow Boulevard, has become a fly tipping site due to the council’s work – and has spent over two years trying to improve it.
The relief road project saw debris from the development placed in the wooded area adjacent to the road.
The council say they have worked hard to improve the land, but Mrs Devlin has accused them of “poor workmanship.”
She said: “The area used to be a beautiful flower meadow and we warned when the road came in that something like this would happen.
“I have spoken to them regularly about this and about the state of the works, because it has not been good enough – it has been poor workmanship.
“The landscape looks absolutely atrocious and it has become a dump to look at.
“There is no wildlife there now, nothing growing, and that is very poor from the council, who claim to be environmentally friendly. .”
Work on the relief road was tendered to Land Engineering, who also took responsibilty for maintenance of the road over a five year period after it opened. However, the firm went bust in 2017, which saw the council take on responsibilty for the rest of the site.
Mrs Devlin now fears it could get worse and added: “It is already being used more and more as a fly tipping site, with items being dumped there.
“I can see that getting worse and worse. We’ve had people from the council out to look around, and they admit there is a problem, but nothing gets done.”
South Lanarkshire Council head of roads and transportation Gordon Mackay claimed in response that the council have worked on several projects aimed at improving the wooded area. He said: “Following the opening of the Cathkin Relief Road the council has engaged with the local community over the landscaping undertaken as part of the project, including concerns around the apparent impact on the wooded area adjacent to the works.
“Post contractual work has been undertaken including the reseeding of wildflower and grass areas, replacement tree and shrub planting, stone picking and herbicide applications.
“The area now benefits from regular grounds maintenance including litter collection, shrub bed maintenance, hedge maintenance and grass cutting. Further remedial work to drainage in the area has also been completed and routine and ongoing maintenance in these areas continues.
“In addition, the footpath through the wooded area has been upgraded to improve the amenity of the area.
“If Mrs Devlin has any new concerns we would be happy to look into the matters raised and would encourage her to make contact direct with the council.”
The relief road was first mooted over five decades ago, but only became a realistic prospect in 2014 thanks to City Deal funding.
It opened in February 2017.