Argyll and Bute Council has vowed to “vigorously contest” a court action by restaurant owners in Oban that could delay a multimillion-pound project to improve the seafront.
Father and son, Alan and Calum MacLeod, who own the EE-usk and Piazza restaurants, have taken out an injunction against the local authority to prevent it carrying out work that they claim would adversely affect their businesses.
And councillors fear it could hold up demolition of the White Building and prevent work starting on the construction of a multi-purpose performance space on the North Pier.
An Argyll and Bute Council spokesman said: “The council will be vigorously contesting this legal action and trying to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
“It is too early to say exactly how this will impact on the progress of the project.”
Oban-based Councillor Roddy McCuish, who is chairman of the Oban, Lorn and the Isles area committee, said he was “extremely disappointed” to learn of the writ.
He said: “Rightly, the public of Oban have been criticising this authority for lack of action and the very time we attempt to do something this happens.
“This could stall the project for quite a while.”
Mr McCuish added that he had been surprised that the MacLeods had taken this action as the council had been “in dialogue” with them.
He said: “They were invited to our area committee and we had, what I thought was, a very useful meeting with them and we agreed to look at some changes to the design.”
But Alan MacLeod said the council was to blame for holding up the North Pier development because it was infringing his family’s rights by limiting access to the their North Pier restaurants.
He added that this went against the terms of the 99-year lease they held with the council.
Mr MacLeod said: “We have no other option but to issue a writ against the local authority to ask it to stop what it is doing.
“A compromise could have been reached if only we had been able to keep the access to our buildings.”
Work on Stafford Street, which is the first phase of the project, is unaffected by the legal action. It began last month and is due to be finished in May.