Co-op promises to pay its fair share of flooding costs
The Co-op has confirmed to the Lochaber Times that it stands ready to pay its fair share of the costs to resolve the persistent flooding problem which has has been affecting Caol’s car park for months.
Last week the Lochaber Times reported on how a lack of proper maintenance and inability to approve work was being blamed for flooding. Caol people say the drains require to be cleared and some grates need to be repaired and replaced.
However, the two national companies that part-own the land, Co-op and Ladbrokes, had so far apparently been silent on requests from the Caol Regeneration group for help.
With the recent persistent rain there has been no sign of any of the water draining away and some people are now avoiding using the area for safety concerns owing to missing drains.
Company secretary for Caol Regeneration Linda Campbell told the Lochaber Times last week the organisation was ready to proceed with repairing the drains having sent out tenders to tradesmen and with all the money in place from the council.
But she added: ‘There are three landowners we need permission from to begin fixing the drains and letters were sent out to all three in July last year.
‘We received a response from the man who owns the old bar building giving us the go-ahead, but have had nothing from either Co-op or Ladbrokes, despite repeated attempts from different parties to contact them.’
However, she added that a reply had since been received from Co-op and things seemed to be moving along on at its end.
The Lochaber Times contacted the Co-op ahead of publication to try to get this confirmed but the company was unable to provide a definitive statement before the paper went to print, while Ladbrokes was unavailable for comment. However, a Co-op spokesperson contacted the Lochaber Times on Friday to say: ‘As a community retailer, Co-op is committed to playing its part in local life, and will pay its fair proportion of the costs – enabling the public money to be utilised elsewhere to benefit the local community.
‘The Co-op does not own the land, however, and therefore it is the landlord – not the Co-op – which would need to approve or carry out the works. The Co-op will contact its landlord to urge it to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.’