Issue - meetings

The first two questions were received in advance of the meeting from Luing Community Council;

Question 1

The two conservation villages of Cullipool and Toberonochy experienced flooding during the heavy rains early October, and it is the second time that flooding in Cullipool has damaged homes. On the advice of the Community Planning Group administrator we have emailed the Roads and Infrastructure Dept to ask if there is a possibility of obtaining technical advice from their flooding engineers (though we are aware of how much pressure they are under right now). It would be useful to know if this is the best route or if there is anyone else that we can contact to obtain technical advice on how to prevent or minimise future flooding risks.

Hugh O’Neill advised that he had passed the query onto the Design Services, who met with Luing Community Council on Monday and will progress their query.

Question 2

How does the Council know which houses are second-homes? I note that a number of people are on the electoral register here who are second-home owners. Is this legitimate, and might this allow them, for instance, to avoid the council tax increase for second-homes when it is introduced, or to benefit in other ways (eg free University fees for a child if their home is in England)?

Fergus Walker had provided a response which was read out by the Committee Clerk.  “A property is defined in law as a second home if it is no-one’s sole or main residence and it is lived in for at least 25 days per annum”.

“In terms of compliance we conduct reviews of second homes and ask for details such as electricity/utility bills, insurance documents and other verification to support the fact that a property is a second home. There are other tools that we use to identify sole or main residences, ie:- where people are trying to avoid their property being classed as a second home we would use credit referencing tools and sharing data with other local authorities to track and trace people”.

Question 3 – Andrew Spence BID4 Oban

On Saturday 7^th October 2023 Oban and the surrounding area experienced severe flooding issues resulting in roads being washed away, landslides, disruption, and serious flooding in the Lochavullin area of Oban. The deluge happened very quickly and numerous busineses were unable to take any precautions. The impact was catastrophic for many busineses in the area.

Similar flooding happened in 2017 and 2018. At that time, we were told the reason for the flooding was that pumps had failed. In 2023, the same pumps failed again.

There has been flood impact surveys undertaken in Oban. The most recent being published in June 2019, 33 pages, with various short-term and long-term options. To date the only visible change has been the introduction of plastic walls along a very short length of the Black Lyn adjacent to the Guide Hall.

Impact to business and community:

• Numerous premises flooded some to a level of over a metre.
• Huge losses to those businesses in terms of infrastructure and revenue.
• We estimate that property and equipment damage will be in excess of £2m
• Serious pollution issues with raw sewerage and oil washed out of garages.
• Some businesses unable to open effectively for a considerable period.
• The costs of the cleanup operation have been significant and financed by those businesses. It should also be highlighted that many premises in the Lochavullin area are now unable to obtain flood insurance cover and they are unable to claim against their losses in any other way.
• Tesco lost its dot.com operation and suffered from severe flooding. This has had a huge impact on their operation and significant impact on their customers who rely on home delivery.
• Tesco have also suffered significant damage to is petrol station and it is still not operational.
• M&S, Argos, Pets at Home were unable to trade for three days, and they suffered significant losses including colleague’s cars in the carpark.
• Homebase became an island and the only access was on foot, they remained open as a public service but suffered significant losses.
• It should be noted that the council are the landlords for many of the flooded premises.

Social impact.

This time Oban nearly lost all its supermarkets to flooding and had the water level been about 20cm higher this would have occurred causing a serious social impact to the area. No supermarkets, no food! The owners of the businesses, staff and customers have all suffered with some of the businesses community stating they will not be able to carry on if there is another flood. This has had an impact on mental health.

What next?

• What have the council done to mitigate flooding in Oban over the last five years?
• What did the council do to support the business community during the most recent flooding?
• What is the councils long term plans?
• What is the council’s contingency should we be flooded again and have no supermarkets?
• Have the council applied for flood prevention funding for Oban?
• When will the council engage positively with the businesses and produce some short-term plans and support to mitigate future events?

Hugh O’Neill advised that this be taken off table for a detailed response, to which Mr Spence agreed.

Question 4 & 5 – Linda Robb, Dunbeg Community Council

Linda advised that she had been in dialogue with the Council’s roads department over a blocked drain on Meadow Road, Dunbeg, over the years.  The recent bad weather had caused the overflow of this drain to ice over the road making it unsafe for vehicles using the road. On reporting it again she was advised by Traffic and Development that this was a Trunk Road and therefore the Council could not do anything about it.  Meadow Road is not on the trunk road therefore very disappointed in the unsatisfactory response from the Council.

Hugh O’Neill apologised for the lack of response and asked that Ms Robb pass  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4