A Coalsnaughton resident has said that his street is “eerily quiet” at the moment as the ground movement problems continue in the town.
Aaron Anderson, has lived in Nechtan Drive for nearly seven years, and has found himself and his family caught up in the ongoing ground movement incident.
As previously reported in the Advertiser, 60 properties in Benbuck View and Dunmoss View have been evacuated.
The cause of the ground movement has yet to be confirmed, and residents have been unable to return home.
Nechtan Drive is located just up from those two streets, and last night, residents there had their gas disconnected.
Speaking to the Advertiser, Aaron said that his gas was cut off around 8pm last night (Thursday, May 28) and that he knows residents have been given heaters and electric hobs.
He was given a letter from his housing association informing him that the gas would be shut off overnight.
However, he has not been given a time for when it will be turned back on.
Clackmannanshire Council previously said that the gas was being turned off as a “precaution”.
Aaron said: “For what that precaution is, I don't really know.
“It's quite surreal to be in it.
“It feels unprecedented, these things. You see the news and you feel like that's terrible for the residents and the people, and then you're involved in it, so it feels quite surreal.”
Speaking on the recent developments, Aaron said that Benbuck View’s evacuation was “scary or a little nerve-wracking” as it was just two streets down from him, but now that Dunmoss View has been affected, he said: “It seems to be following the trend and it just seems to be going up the street."
Aaron and his family have packed their belongings just in case they do end up being told to leave their homes.
“You're just hearing conflicting answers from all sorts and not a conclusive, this is what happened and this is the plan kind of thing.
“I don't know where we're going, but the bags are packed. We're cleaning the house just in case the guys need in the house.
“We're just making sure everything's sorted.
“We don't know what to do, not a clue.”
His family is one of five, and Aaron and his wife have autistic twins who Aaron says “will not cope with the get up and go”.
He added: “If it's going to happen [an evacuation], I'm hoping it happens during a school day, so me and my wife have the time to prepare.”
The family’s housing association is Kingdom Housing, who are based in Fife, so Aaron is also concerned that they could be sent through to Fife, as there will be limited properties with the association in Clacks.
Aaron has said that he has been checking his house regularly, and there are no signs of cracks at the moment.
“I just want to know if I'm coming or going.
“I understand that this is big news for Clackmannanshire.
“These things are pretty unprecedented, but I just kind of want to know if we can make decisions for our family, to see where we go and what we do.
“That's all I want to do. I just want to protect my wee family and essentially get them to safety, because we don't know what's underneath our feet,” He added.
Not being able to pre-empt things to ensure his daughters are okay and to help navigate their autism is putting Aaron’s anxiety “through the roof”.
He said: “This is such a little quiet town, and this is nuts.
“It's really hard to comprehend that this is going on.”
Share