Council to sink teeth into interim weir fix this month

Jul 2 2010 by Denis Brown, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

POSITIVE ripples have risen from a think-tank considering proactive measures to restore Perth’s dwindling Lade and habitat.

Among key points surfacing from the closed-door meeting at Perth and Kinross Council was a commitment to complete stage one of a temporary repair at Low’s Weir by the end of July.

The ancient weir at Almondbank has been diverting scant water into the Lade from the River Almond for the past three years, much to the wider community’s chagrin.

At the meeting to discuss ongoing development and management of the Lade were Tulloch Lade Action Group (TLAG) representatives, Councillor Callum Gillies and senior council environment service officers.

“It was a very positive meeting and we were told that phase one of the weir repair is going ahead this month,” TLAG’s Richard Higginbottom said.

“There was also talk of establishing a Perth-wide Lade trust, which we’re keen on. It will take a year’s momentum to get it happening, but a trust would enable accumulation of other funding.

“And we’re now looking at getting a band of volunteers to remove debris like shopping trolleys and junk from the Lade.

“The council are doing their best, they’re bearing the brunt of people’s frustration but their hands are tied by funding constraints.”

As revealed in last Friday’s PA, the Huntingtower community is fed up enduring a nauseating stench from an increasingly shallow and ugly Lade, claiming the problem is exacerbated by residential septic tank run-off into the Lade.

Downstream, TLAG – an offshoot of Christian charity group Tulloch NET – is striving to spruce up the ancient waterway after 90 per cent of 270 households it surveyed said they desperately wanted improvements.

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

However, late last week the council announced it had just reached agreement with partners – SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage and Tay Salmon Fisheries – on an environmentally-friendly, interim weir fix.

The council stressed that although the initiative was scheduled for this summer, it could be put on hold in the event of other vital work that it did have a statutory duty to carry out.

But following this week’s meeting, which had been in the pipeline, the council appears to have given a concrete commitment to implement the weir solution this month regardless of other workload pressures.

“Money has been set aside for the weir repair,” said Councillor Gillies.

“There’s been a lot of problems with the different agencies involved but there is now agreement to get things advanced.

“People have to realise though that the Lade only flows if the River Almond is fully flowing. Once this work is done though, the Lade should start flowing more steadily – but we’re not looking at a huge increase in water levels.”

A council spokesman said the council had been working with partner agencies for several years to solve the weir issue and considered the Lade to be a valuable recreational and natural resource.

He said council countryside rangers had been collaborating with TLAG on Lade enhancement projects, and the council had invested significant capital on maintaining the waterway for residents’ enjoyment.

“As well as maintaining the waterway, signage and pathways along the Lade have been improved to encourage people to make use of the Lade as much as possible,” he said.

l TLAG’s Love the Lade family day, featuring live music, bouncy castle and cafe, is at Tulloch playing fields, opposite Renfrew Drive, 11am to 3pm, on Saturday, September 4.