Interim Lade fix deployed

Jul 30 2010 by Denis Brown, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A PROMISED interim measure to divert water into Perth Lade at the River Almond source is being deployed.

The US-built AquaDam – a water-filled cofferdam which cost £2100 – is being positioned in front of the damaged Low’s Weir at Almondbank as a temporary fix during warmer months when Lade water levels dip.

An environmentally-friendly Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) initiative, approved by partners SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage and Tay Salmon Fisheries, the device will be in place until October.

During winter months, when the Lade’s depth is naturally deeper, the AquaDam will be in storage, but primed for deployment again around March when the Almond source begins to dwindle.

Supplied by English firm Albion Water Structures Ltd, the US made-to-order device – resembling a giant black vinyl sausage – is typically deployed using guide ropes within 30 minutes.

Albion spokesman Greg Shakeshaft said PKC had been far-sighted in ordering the cutting-edge cofferdam, which is 100 per cent recyclable and highly suitable for delicate environments

“As it is inflated by the river’s water, there is absolutely no danger of any foreign matter threatening the river’s eco-system,” he said.

A PKC spokesman said the interim fix was the first phase of a long-term project involving partner agencies to find a permanent solution to combat the ancient waterway’s declining water levels.

As revealed by the PA, the Huntingtower community is fed up enduring the stench from an increasingly shallow and ugly Lade, claiming residential septic tank run-off exacerbates the problem.

Downstream, Tulloch Lade Action Group (TLAG) is striving to spruce up the Lade and surrounds after 90 per cent of 270 households it surveyed said they desperately wanted improvements.

Meanwhile, near the city centre, Hyalus Bank Owners’ Association chairman Terry Philson and his wife Georgette are organising a petition lobbying for action on the adjacent Lade.

While Huntingtower community members lobbying PKC to fix the weir claim they have been “fobbed off” for three years, the council’s position is it has no statutory duty to maintain the weir.

Although PKC has strived to find a solution, the cost of repairing Low’s Weir is understood to be prohibitive, as is securing consent from all partner agencies.

TLAG member Richard Higginbottom, who attended a recent PKC meeting to discuss Lade issues with Councillor Callum Gillies and senior council environment service officers, said PKC was doing its best.

“They’re bearing the brunt of people’s frustration but their hands are tied by funding constraints,” he said.

At the meeting, PKC, in addition to floating creation of a Perth-wide Lade trust, committed to implementing the AquaDam.