A highly complex operation to remove nine old cars abandoned in a reservoir in Gleniffer Braes Country Park in Paisley is underway.
The illegally dumped vehicles have been submerged in the water at Lower Glen Dam for a number of years and the delicate removal operation has required lengthy and meticulous planning.
Acting on calls from the local community for the cars to be removed, Scottish Water has worked with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Ayrshire Rivers Trust, and contractors George Leslie Ltd to ensure the environment and the removal team are kept safe during the course of the operation.
Teams are currently on site carrying out preparatory works to enable access to the work, prior to the removal taking place next month. This work involves gradually lowering the water level of the reservoir to a safe level to mitigate any environmental impact and allow the removal operation to get underway. For health and safety reasons, pathways around the reservoir will be closed off to members of the public while the cars are pulled from the water.
Project Manager Gerry O’Hara said: “We’ve listened to community concerns about the vehicles being in the water and now is the time to act.
“This is such a delicate and sensitive operation and has been months in the planning to ensure there is as little impact on the environment as possible and that our teams are safe.
“Restrictions are in place for everyone’s safety and we would ask visitors to Gleniffer Braes Country Park to respect all signage around the reservoir while these works are carried out.”
Additional mitigation measures will be in place to help avoid any impact on the local water environment, and Ayrshire Rivers Trust will carry out a fish rescue operation. Once the vehicles have been safely recovered, the water level will be raised back to its normal level.
A small reservoir with an earth embankment dam on the course of the Glen Burn, Lower Glen Dam is one of Scottish Water’s non-operational reservoirs and is not used for supplying customers with drinking water.
