A new demand has been made for a solution to the “debacle” of a once famous Courier Country tourist attraction.
More than a decade since boats were last rowed on Arbroath’s Keptie Pond, the reappearance of unsightly weeds and potentially harmful algae has led to a call for a determined effort to end the perennial problem.
The rowing boats were removed from the pond in 2002 but for many years it has been plagued by problems of algal growth caused by low water levels.
Several years ago Angus Council pumped almost £50,000 of Arbroath common good fund cash into a borehole project to top up the pond.
That hoped-for solution has been described as an “unmitigated disaster” by town councillor David Fairweather, who has now made a request for a review of the situation and a call for action.
“Enough is enough, there is money in the common good and we are just going to have to bite the bullet, get on with it and get this sorted once and for all.”
Mr Fairweather said he is faced with almost daily complaints about the state of the pond when walking his dog there.
“There are quite large fish there which I have seen, and terrapins, but the pond is getting in such a state. It’s so unsightly and the last scenario we would want is for dead fish to be floating about.”
He has suggested the council scrutiny and audit committee should review past action taken and look at a new solution.
“The whole situation surrounding Keptie Pond in recent years has been a disaster, a debacle and an embarrassment,” he said.
Fellow Arbroath councillor Bob Spink said: “I’ve been involved in this for many years and I am sick fed up of the whole thing.
“We thought we’d resolved the issue by putting in the borehole, but it was so under-specified it just wasn’t suitable for the job.
“The cost of topping the pond up to a higher level is horrendous, but the outlet hasn’t been raised so any extra water put in just goes straight out again.
“The pond looks ghastly and it needs drastic work, but it is not going to be a quick or a cheap option.”
Originally a skating pond, the Keptie attraction was a popular strand of Arbroath’s summer offering for almost half a century from 1960.
Scores of families, many from the west coast who ventured east for the ‘fair’ fortnight, spent happy times in the council-run rowing boats which tootled around the island during the summer months.
However, a combination of spiralling costs and health and safety requirements saw the boats tied up for good in 2002.
At that time, leisure chiefs said the costs involved in running the attraction meant each Keptie Pond visitor was being subsidised to the tune of £3.
Local councillor David Fairweather said a return to the halcyon days of the ‘pondie’ were impossible to envisage.
“The cost of the boats and the health and safety implications would just not make it a viable proposition,” he said.
Boating ponds in Courier Country are increasingly rare, but Fife’s Craigtoun Park facility is enjoying a new lease of life after a successful community drive.
The park near St Andrews was facing an uncertain future until a Friends group stepped in to take up a five-year lease, with an option to enter into a 25-year agreement.
They will pay a £300-per-annum peppercorn rent to Fife Council, with the authority responsible for park maintenance and repairs in the first segment of the deal.