Clackmannanshire Council holds meeting with evacuated residents

Residents of Coalsnaughton were forced to evacuate their homes. <i>(Image: Kayleigh Gregory)</i>
Residents of Coalsnaughton were forced to evacuate their homes. (Image: Kayleigh Gregory)
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Clackmannanshire Council held a meeting last night with residents affected by home evacuations in Coalsnaughton.

Almost 100 homes spanning four streets were cleared out in stages after ground movement was reported on Monday, May 18.

Investigations into the cause are currently being carried out by the Mining Remediation Authority (MRA), and families will remain in temporary accommodation for at least another five weeks.

The local authority’s chief executive, Nikki Bridle said: “The priority of all local resilience partners continues to be the safety and welfare of everyone involved, and that includes staff, contractors and residents accessing the site.

“Our officers continue to work tirelessly to support residents during what we appreciate is an extremely worrying and uncertain time.

“Clackmannanshire Council continues to engage directly with residents impacted by this incident and provide support to those residents with temporary accommodation and other welfare related support. Updates on this provision was provided at the meeting.”

The council is to receive a £1 million package from the Scottish Government to cover expenses it has faced as  a result of the emergency response.

Streets that are directly impacted include Benbuck View, Dunmoss View, Nechtan Drive and Langour.

Representatives of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Police Scotland, MRA and utility companies, attended the Devonvale Hall gathering.

Chief executive of the MRA, Carl Banton said: “Work is continuing to help us understand what is happening below the surface.

 “At the residents meeting this evening we shared what investigations have taken place to date, and what we plan to do over the next few weeks which includes installing monitoring equipment in the boreholes that we have drilled which will provide essential data to help us understand whether ground movement has stabilised. 

“Our thoughts remain with the residents affected and we would like to assure the community that we are doing all we can, as quickly as possible, alongside the local resilience partnership to understand the cause of this incident.”

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