Clydebank Post | News | Residents fear houses will subside as cracks appear

Friday, 29th August, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 4th June, 2008 09:40

Residents fear houses will subside as cracks appear

By Andrea Fraser

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WORRY: The craters

THERE are fresh fears that houses are going to start sinking after continued subsidence near a graveyard.

Despite remedial work to a “crater” which appeared in a busy road last year, more cracks are appearing and panic is spreading about what could collapse next.

Last year a family had to be evacuated from their home in Clydebank’s Montrose Street after it started to sink into a giant crater.

They were living in the gatehouse at Kilbowie Cemetery, which was home to the caretaker employed by West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC), when their home started sliding into a ditch.

Parts of the century-old frontage and the garden collapsed into the hole on Montrose Street, forcing WDC to work round the clock to find the cause of the cave-in.

Utility companies had to be called in because sewer and gas pipes were running under the road at the point of collapse.

It was initially feared that the house would have to be demolished.

However, the house still remains, although it appears to be slowly deteriorating further.

And residents — who said the road looked like a bomb had exploded — feared that the close proximity to Kilbowie Cemetery, which is more than 100-years-old, could cause more problems.

And now, just months on, more cracks are appearing in the road.

Montrose Street resident, Jennifer McLean, said: “The subsidence is back and all the residents are worried as it appears to be getting even closer to our homes.

“There is visible damage, despite repairs earlier this year, where the road surface is cracking and starting to sink.

“The council came out around three weeks ago and put some fencing round it.”

Jennifer said that despite continued calls for action to be taken, no one is willing to hold their hands up to being responsible for the problem.

She added: “We have all continually been on to West Dunbartonshire Council and Scottish Water but no one will accept liability for the subsidence.

“We are all worried what is going to happen if this problem is not solved.”

A spokesman for WDC said: “The council has commissioned an additional survey to further check on the area.”

A Scottish Water spokesman said: “Scottish Water take these issues very seriously and recently carried out a thorough investigation of our apparatus following the subsidence in Montrose Street, Clydebank.

“We put cameras down the appropriate sewerage pipe to check its condition, we cleared the pipe with a high pressure jet and we removed silt. Following this investigative work we reached the conclusion that there is no fault in Scottish Water’s apparatus in the area.”

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