Builders' roadworks mean residents have to take 13-mile detour to get home

Colin and Abbie Bauld (C Austin/ DC Thomson)

Roadworks have left people living on the outskirts of Eaglesham facing six weeks of roads misery.

To get to the East Renfrewshire village they have to take a huge detour, with one local businesswoman calculating she’ll clock up more than 1,000 extra miles over the next six weeks.

Angry families claim they weren’t told that roadworks would leave them stranded.

“It’s a farce,” one local said. “They’ve put a roadblock over our only route in and out of the village, so we now have to take a huge detour to get our kids to school.

“There was no warning, no consultation – nothing.”

Housebuilding company Mactaggart & Mickel is installing traffic signs and speed bumps on a busy route leading out of the pretty village.

People living beside the road in the village were sent letters alerting them to the disruption. But rural residents, who also use the road every day, claim they received no warnings. Last week they found a barricade blocking their way in to the village.

Furious mum Sheena Mason, 44, said: “People like us outside the village weren’t told that the road in would be shut completely.

“We just came down and found they’d put up a barrier across the road.”

She added: “Scottish Water carried out roadworks last year and just shut one lane, with traffic lights and a worker with a Stop/Go board.

“That worked perfectly – so why couldn’t they do that?

“Scottish Water also held consultations and public meetings beforehand – again, why didn’t the council and Mactaggart & Mickel do that?”

Dog walker Sheena, who lives a mile-and-a-half outside the village on Eaglesham Moor, says she now has to take the lengthy diversion to take her six-year-old daughter to the village primary school.

She added: “It’s ludicrous. The school run usually takes me five minutes — now it takes me 25 at least. That’s going to be an extra 1,000 miles at least over the next six weeks. Who’s going to pay the petrol — the council?

“Some of the local farmers have also told me that their usual 10-minute journeys are now taking 45 minutes. It’s ridiculous.”

Farmer Colin Bauld said the restrictions had forced him to drive more than 100 miles extra every day.

The 36-year-old, whose family have run South Kirktonmoor Farm for more than 40 years, said: “It’s been a shambles with virtually no thought or consideration for the locals.”

He added: “My wife Hazel operates High Dam Fishery, it’s her only income.

“The trout season is just about to begin but the road closure means we will likely have to write the whole thing off.”

Local Councillor Stewart Miller hopes a solution can be found after meeting with the builders but said not enough had been done to engage with the community.

A spokeswoman for East Renfrewshire Council said: “During the works, vehicle access to properties within the extents of the road closure will be permitted by the contractor when it is possible to do so.”

A spokeswoman for Mactaggart & Mickel Homes defended its handling of the work. “We appreciate this may inconvenience some residents and road users and our contractors are endeavouring to complete the necessary works as quickly as possible,” she said.