Scottish
Water at Innellan
I like many of my neighbours in my village of Innellan
made the mistake of accepting assurances that the
environment would be cared for when the new sewage
installations in front of our houses was installed,
also I do not approve of NIMBYism, so I did not protest
about the plans. Well, 18 pictures tell their story
here. Millions of
years of unique geological formations on the Highland
Boundary Fault Line were no match for JCBs.
What is not clear at this point is who is responsible
for what is both permanent damage and potentially
remedial damage, whether it is down to Scottish Water's
plans, the contractor Biwater Leslie's execution,
the monitoring by the Council, failures in communication,
or some combination of the above.
Water
blog
This posted October 11th
2006 One issue that arose during this whole
sorry affair was that the question of the Scottish
Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and whether
it could be regarded as independent of the Scottish
Executive (Sepa had been brought in to advise on environmental
implications of Scottish Water's plans) . The Dunoon
Observer reported
1st September; "Answering suspicions that
there might might be a conflict of interest in that
SEPA and Scottish Water are both funded by the Scottish
Executive, Ms Black (Scottish Water Customer Service
Director), said: 'Absolutely not'".
One month later, these same suspicions appear to
have been supported by another issue in which Sepa
was involved as reported
in the Sunday Herald for 8th October which noted "(Sepa)
played down the risks of radio active contamination
at a popular coastal resort in Fife following an 11th-hour
intervention by government spin doctors. Internal
emails reveal the Scottish Environment Protection
Agency (Sepa) delayed and then altered a news release
after it had been described as not entirely
helpful by a senior Scottish Executive public
relations official ...Sepas position
...was fiercely criticised by David Miller, a professor
of sociology at Strathclyde University and an expert
on government spin. 'This is not about making things
clearer, its about deceiving people, and it
calls into question Sepas independence,' he
said. 'It demonstrates an appalling subservience to
the Executives diktat'
So was the Dunoon Observer right to raise questions
regarding Sepa's independence from the Scottish Executive
in the context of the Innellan works ? Professor Miller
is right to raise these questions in the context of
the Fife case - and "deception" and "appalling
subservience" to the Executive are strong charges
to make against any watchdog, especially one charged
with protecting the public health and safety. Which
means it was at least right and legitimate to raise
these same questions in the context of the Innellan
works.
Which raises the question of who watches the watchdog?
In the case of Sepa, the answer
is quite clear and given in its website. It's
the Scottish Executive.
This posted September 8th
2006 Scottish Water have won their appeal
against their plans being turned down and have started
work at Seal Cove, here are pictures
of what the area now looks like. Compare this with
the pictures of July 15th below.
This posted July 15th 2006
Those protesting against the work at the
third sewage installtion at Innellan at Seal Cove
have sent the enclosed pictures
of where the work will be and how near this work is
to their homes, particularly when it is noted that
the sea wall will be removed to allow a layby to be
built for tankers to take away the solid waste to
Lochgilphead.
This posted July 14th 2006
The Petition against Scottish Water' against
the siting of Primary sewerage plants at all three
Innellan sites is publicised on the front
page of the Dunoon Observer. Campaigners point
out that information has been received only in the
last week confirming our view that untreated sewage
will be discharged into the Clyde. They argue they
have approximately until the end of this month to
persuade Scottish Water to upgrade their plans for
the area to Secondary system whereby no sewage will
go into the Clyde. Copies of the Petition can be obtained
here and lodged
with the local Village Store or the Lido (local newsagent
and Post Office) Innellan.
This posted July 12th 2006
Scottish Water's plans for Innellan received
a set back on July 4th when Bute and Cowal Area Committee
turned down the company's application to use part
of the car park at Sandy Beach as a storage area for
equipment. Three of the strongest critics of Scottish
Water's plans, Jim Donaldson, Jimmy Duncan and Gilbert
Pyke have been fighting the water company's plans
to use the car park. The full story is in the Dunoon
Observer, archived for July 7th 2006 (scroll "news
archives" if necessary).
This posted January 28th
2006 Scottish Water have won their appeal
to permit them to continue the work they have been
doing in Innellan. The full text and reactions to
the decisions are in the Dunoon Observer 27th January
2006 and can be read here
(scroll "news archives" to the headlines
for 27th January if necessary), pictures of where
the septic tack will go are here looking North
and here looking South.
Contact
me at:
|