by The Courier and Advertiser
Householders in a Mearns community once threatened with imprisonment for serious pollution from their sewage plant are celebrating a major turnaround with a pat on the back from the country’s environment watchdog.
The owners group which runs Edzell woods village has been told by Tony Allan of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency that standards at their sewage plant are now so high they could set an example for the rest of the country to follow.
He told the owners group annual meeting that upgrading .work at the plant and maintenance routines were working well, adding that the agency would be .happy If all sewage treatment works had the same results from routine sampling.
Chairwoman of the group Linda Wilson said, “We are very proud of that. We haven’t got there easily.”
The village was formed 10 years ago after the Americans pulled out of the RAF base leaving 147 empty houses built as staff accommodation.
But it remains a private estate meaning that collectively the owners have responsibility for the sewerage, roads and lighting, something that has caused problems for years.
The promise of a rural settlement in the heart of beautiful countryside has been tainted by wrangling, first with the developer, then among residents themselves, about how the estate can be maintained.
In 2003 neglect of the sewage plant resulted in a stern warning to all the householders from SEPA, to clean up the plant or face legal action and risk a hefty fine, or even imprisonment.
“The sewage plant at Edzell Woods is ageing, and it is really far too much to ask volunteers to keep it maintained and working.”
The warning was issued after the discovery of significant pollution of the nearby North Esk river from sewage effluent.
Spurred into action, residents mounted a major clean-up, and an extra household sewage charge was introduced to cover maintenance costs and capital expenditure on upgrade and repairs.
“As always there is rumour and counter rumour,” said Mrs Wilson. “I invited Mr Allan along from SEP A so that people could hear from the horse’s mouth how things really are.”
“He is very pleased with the way we are running things. I also had an independant assessor in and he also was very satisfied with the plant.”
It was hoped that housing development on the old airfield adjacent would eventually result in the sewage plant being taken over by Scottish Water.
She said, “Its long-term future is all tied up with development on the base. These houses will need to connect to our sewage works and at that point we would hope the plant could be upgraded by the developer and taken over by Scottish Water. .
“Until then we have to keep it going on a day to day basis.”
“The good ‘news is confirmation from Aberdeenshire Council that the base is earmarked for development. The bad news is the recession and that development could be further off than we had hoped.”
Local councillor George Carr confirmed that the base which is owned by Mearns-based agricultural and haulage contractors D. M. Carnegie, had now been allocated for 300 houses, 50 more than previously.
He said, “Hopefully the developers can now come up with a master plan for the area. The sewage plant at Edzell Woods is aging, and it is really far too much to ask volunteers to keep it maintained and working.”
This article is reposted from The Courier and Advertiser.