Dozens of residents from a residential country park in Perthshire have been left without water for the “umpteenth time” in recent weeks.
Lodge owners at Glendevon Country Park near Dollar in Perth and Kinross are livid that their water supply has been affected for weeks and has once again been cut off.
They say their water was off for nine days over the festive period and accused park owners, Away Resorts, of not doing enough to provide a long-term solution.
The supply was eventually restored but has consistently gone off in recent weeks before going off again in the early hours of Friday morning.
The company has apologised and said workmen are on site trying to fix the problem.
Many residents were forced to book hotel accommodation as a result and in an unexpected twist one had even booked into the New County Hotel in Perth.
Glendevon residents say ‘We’ve had enough’
Greg Keenan, secretary of the park’s residents association, said lodge owners have reached the end of their tether.
The park has 83 lodges, the vast majority of which are main residences, with a few holiday homes.
Residents are mostly over the age of 65 with the park described as “providing homes for those who are older and ready to downsize”.
Mr Keenan, 75, said after the water initially failed at the park on December 19 many residents were forced to book into local hotels.
No water for Christmas
The water was off from December 19 until shortly before New Year.
Scottish Water stepped in to provide supplies but the residents now want to see a permanent fix.
Mr Keenan said: “It has gone off several times since, before finally going off again at 3am on Friday.”
“The problem lies squarely with the park owners and operators.
“We keep getting excuse after excuse and now we need a full reassurance that the supply will be rectified and maintained.
“This can’t be allowed to go on. We have had enough.”
Former Perth publican Mr Keenan said he had booked into Perth’s New County Hotel for the nights of December 20 and 21.
Three people and a dog died in a fire at the same hotel on January 2.
He said: “Thank goodness I ended up cancelling.
“I hadn’t realised until after I booked the hotel had no lift.
“I tried phoning six times to cancel but no-one ever answered the phone.
“We just didn’t go. I had paid by credit card and the money was never taken out of my account.
“I was told the hotel was a fleapit and then obviously the fire happened.
“I used to own more than 20 pubs in Perth and I know how these things work.
“We feel so lucky now that we didn’t stay there.”
Apology from Away Resorts
Greg Lashley of Away Resorts said he accepted the situation is not good enough.
Mr Lashley said: “We would like to apologise to residents.
“We too are very concerned about this situation. We accept this is not good enough.
“Unfortunately we were not aware of water infrastructure issues when we took over the park in 2022.
“The very cold spell before Christmas led to a burst pipe which depleted our water tanks.
“They took time to refill. The situation has been ongoing but we have contractors on site working to resolve the problem.
“We will keep residents informed and plan to meet with them next week to explain the situation.”
‘Not responsibility of Scottish Water’
A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “We attended Glendevon Country Park during December following reports of water supply issues at the site.
“On inspection, it was confirmed that the public network was fully operational, therefore we advised that issues being experienced were not the responsibility of Scottish Water.”
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