Resident raises alarm on waste being dumped at Beith reservoir

Nearby resident John Dobbie, complained about the ongoing dumping of waste, after becoming enraged at the site of a chemical drum sitting on top of Kirkleegreen Reservoir when it was recently frozen over.

John says he has been in touch with SEPA for a year over the ongoing flytipping – who have been unable to get in contact with the landowner.

John Dobbie said: “It sounds pretty innocuous, but someone came up and dumped that, as it wasn’t lying with all the other rubbish there. Someone has specifically gone up with the drum. What was in the drum and why would someone want to dump it at the reservoir? For all I know there could be a lot more stuff lying in the bottom.

“The dam is being used to dump rubbish in, how much we don’t know, but either way there is a public concern there. It is the ‘Scottish Environmental Protection Agency’, yet they cannot identify who owns a water course?

“I’ve been at them for over a year getting them to close the area off and remove the rubbish that’s there but they claim they cannot find the landowner.

“We’ve got a reservoir here at the head of a long course of water which eventually comes out into Irvine Bay and regulations concerning water supply and SEPA can’t find the owner of a dam? I just don’t get it, I’ve been banging my head off a brick wall with SEPA for over a year.

“Somebody’s failing in their duties somewhere, we’ve got a reservoir in the countryside where there is clear evidence of dumping all kinds of rubbish there, and now there’s the oil drum.

SEPA were contacted but unable to respond before our deadline.

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “If the waste has been left on private land, it would be the responsibility of the landowner or factor to clear as per their obligations under the Environmental Protection (Scotland) Act 1990.

“We can only remove waste from private land if a commercial arrangement is in place to meet the costs or if the waste poses a risk to health.”