An Aberdeenshire community has spoken out about the “frustrating” lack of action from Scottish Water after a burst main destroyed sections of a newly-refurbished footpath.
Members of the Banchory Paths Association have noticed “severe damage” to sections of the route into the Burnett Park from the Old Deeside Railway Line.
A burst main from the town’s Corsee Road caused a “torrent” of water to wash away the surface materials on the community-maintained stretch of the public path and volunteers have been angered at the lack of response from the water authority.
Ken Henderson, funding officer for Banchory Paths Association, first reported the leak on September 19, and noticed the resulting damage on the footpath two days later, following the repair work.
He said: “This is the second time severe footpath damage has been caused by bursts to this high pressure water main.
“We put a lot of effort into raising funds and upgrading local paths and find it very frustrating.
“We have permission and plans to upgrade the path along the old railway line towards the Brathens access track. There are also plans to upgrade other paths in the area.”
The band of volunteers has maintained the path and cut back encroaching trees and vegetation along the track.
But last night, Mr Henderson added: “To date, Scottish Water have been less than helpful and not been at all proactive in reinstatement.”
A Scottish Water spokesman responded: “We would like to apologise to the Banchory Paths Association for the delay in responding to them about the damage reported to footpaths in Burnett Park.
“Emergency work to repair a burst water main was carried out on September 21 by a contractor working on Scottish Water’s behalf.
“Following completion of the repair, our contractor returned to the site last week to carry out reinstatement of the immediate area affected.”
He went on to confirm “further work is required” to repair the damaged paths and added: “We will carry out this work as quickly as possible and appreciate the patience of the Paths Association and users of Burnett Park while we make arrangements for this to be done.”