Two medical emergencies since the A816 landslide cut off the Craignish peninsula from Lochgilphead have highlighted the community’s vulnerability.
Craignish Community Council convener Reece Kelly told the Advertiser of two recent medical emergencies on the peninsula – one of which involved himself.
“I had a small heart attack,” he said. “I was very lucky. I got a stent. The ambulance got to me quickly from Oban.”
However, he added: “The other one – the ambulance got lost on a forestry road as it was coming from Lochgilphead.”
He said the man involved in the other emergency, who faced the delayed ambulance, had suffered a fall and it was “not a life or death” situation.
But he said of all the challenges facing Craignish in the weeks ahead, medical emergencies were the priority.
While praising some Argyll and Bute Council officials for their efforts, the community council convener claimed the Craignish peninsula was initially “left in the dark” before the community was able to make its emergency plans to cope with the closure of its main road connection to Lochgilphead.
Craignish relies on Lochgilphead for many of its essential services, usually including emergency services, and workers but has been cut off from the town – without a long detour via Oban and Inveraray – since the major landslide closed the A816 just south of Ardfern during the extreme weather of October 7 and 8.
Subsequent problems with Kilmelford Bridge a few miles to the north added further transport and logistical complications for Craignish.
With the help of the council and several other organisations, the Craignish community has put in place emergency, temporary arrangements for Ardfern-Crinan ferries, schools, buses, medical prescriptions, carers, doctors and essential supplies. A first responder system is also now back in operation.
At a packed emergency meeting of Craignish Community Council in Ardfern on October 18, Mr Kelly said he had been “disappointed” with the “communication” from the council’s executive leaders up to that date.
Mr Kelly praised Jim Smith, the council’s Head of Roads and Infrastructure, who attended the emergency meeting by video, but said “we just felt as a community we were just left in the dark”.
He said: “The head of the local authority is not here.”
On Wednesday this week, the community council convener said: “I was very impressed with Jim Smith, as were other members of the community. He was very practical.
“But I felt it was the responsibility of the [council] executive to have just reached out, just to have said ‘do not worry, our heads of department are on the case’.
“Since the meeting, communication [from the council] has dramatically improved, especially via social media. But we have still not received anything from the higher up.”
A spokesperson for the council said: “We understand and appreciate the impact the landslip has caused for communities and businesses and are doing everything we can to reopen transport links.
“Recently, four heads of service from the council joined the community council meeting to address their questions and to hear directly from local residents and businesses.
“We appreciate the positive approach of the community council which collated questions in advance and scheduled their meeting to allow plans to be formulated.
“Our immediate priority following the landslip was the safety of road users and then to stabilise the site to protect the road network.
“During that time, the council was dealing with seven different landslips and posting regular updates on social media and on the council website.
“Teams from across the council came together to identify a range of community needs and worked into the evenings and the weekends to make sure contingency plans were in place.
“The leader of the council and the chief executive will continue to support Argyll and Bute communities by trying to attract additional funding to invest in ongoing recovery.”
The council has updated its guidance on its plan for the A816. It said it is planning an alternative route using a forest planting track and that long term, this emergency bypass “could become the redirected A816”.
The council said: “An outline alternative route through a forested area using an existing forest planting track and then across unmade ground to connect back to the A816 is … being progressed as an emergency route.
“This will provide a facility to bypass the section currently affected by the landslip. This will be dependent on land agreements and the outcome of discussions with Historic Scotland.
“The rationale behind the emergency route is two-fold. Firstly, to provide a diversion route away from the unstable hillside which would allow traffic access to the A816 whilst the clearance works, hillside stabilisation and construction of a bund etc. are being carried out.
“Secondly, given the size of the hillside, its geology and the probability of further material flowing from the hillside, an alternative emergency route provides a higher level of resilience helping to maintain access along the A816.
“Long term, it is possible that this emergency route could become the redirected A816.
“The reason for carrying out both the clearance of the existing road and also progressing the emergency route is that this enables a much faster solution to be progressed.
“An emergency road being to a more basic standard, which could be subsequently upgraded, should the route of the A816 be permanently realigned at some point in the future.
“The provision of a permanent route would require significantly more planning and consents and is likely to take at least two years and more likely up to five years whereas an emergency route could be completed in a matter of weeks.”
As of October 20, the council said of the timescale involved: “The clean-up operation, bund etc. is likely to take 3-4 weeks.
“However, this is dependent on the stability of the site, weather conditions and any other unforeseen issues which may come to light during the work.
“The emergency route will also take around four weeks to construct from when the land agreement can be concluded.”
The council added: “Given that there is a significant probability that the hillside cannot be realistically fully stabilised, the long term preference would be to divert the A816 from its existing alignment to the east.
“A permanent new road would take at least two years to plan, obtain permissions/consents then build. It may take longer.
“Therefore, clearing the material, managing the hillside with a temporary emergency route is a much faster method of returning to service.”
The Craignish Community Council convener said the plan for a redirected A816 through the forest “makes the most sense”, adding: “It is the most logical solution.
“I think the roads department are doing the best they can with what they have in front of them.”
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Argyll and Bute Council is planning an alternative route using a forest planting track and this emergency bypass “could become the redirected A816.”