Residents of a north-east street crippled by a landslide have hit back at Aberdeenshire Council for failing in their duty of care.
Speaking to the Press and Journal last week, a spokeswoman for the local authority said Peterhead’s Mackenzie Crescent “would continue to be monitored and inspected regularly.”
But now property owners from the harbour-view road have claimed council officers have not visited the site in months.
Resident James Duncan said: “There’s a discrepancy in the comments, they said they check back regularly. That’s not true.
“The road closure sign has been laying on its side and it’s full of weeds. The council is clearly not checking back regularly. We never see anyone coming up.
“I’m speaking for the majority of the residents when I say it’s a farce. They’re on about a duty of care, but they’re not showing any duty of care here. After all this rain you’d expect there’d be someone up.”
The row over whether to permanently close the road has rumbled on since the slope slipped in 2011.
Councillors from the Buchan Area Commitee have fought to keep the street open, but the battle may now have been lost as Aberdeenshire Council’s policy and resource committee backed plans to force its closure.
Last night a spokeswoman for the local authority denied the council was neglecting its duty. She said: “Following the initial landslip in January 2012, Aberdeenshire Council has carried out weekly then fortnightly visual inspections until such time as no further movement was visible and the slope appeared to be relatively stable.”
She added that further inspections were carried out “as necessary” and will be ramped up during the winter.
Another resident, Robert Dixon, expressed his disappointment last night. Mr Dixon said: “It seems that it doesn’t matter what our councillors think.
“This wasn’t an act of god. How can they not do anything about it? It’s a farce.”
A leaked report last year revealed that a series of blunders had been to blame for the subsidence.
An investigation showed that the slope was not properly assessed before work to excavate the site and build a new boat shed began.