I had yet another very successful and well attended surgery in the village of Carradale after which I was taken around and shown just how bad some of the local infrastructure is.

I have been shocked by the appalling state of drains in Carradale with almost all of them being blocked and the only ones that are not blocked are only unblocked because local residents have taken to rodding the drains them selves, after giving up waiting for our council to do the work. Many of my constituents have been asking why they are paying council tax when they left to do the work of the council?

Roads that are flooded are not only a huge inconvenience and a danger but lead to even greater repair costs for our council as the flooded roads will need to be repaired and resurfaced more frequently than roads that are properly drained. In one area despite much needed road surfacing taking place one important drain has been tarmacked over which has lead to yet more flooding.

Broken tree branches falling on the roads across many parts of East Kintyre continue to be raised at my surgeries in Carradale. Whenever I receive these reports I make our roads department know right away.

Many roadside verges have been mauled by heavy goods and other vehicles driving over road edges with numerous muddy trenches being cut into local roadsides. Street lights are out in many part of Carradale including one light at Tormhor which has been coming off and on every few moments for over four weeks. Despite many of my constituents complaining to our roads department on numerous occasions this light remains unfixed.

Woodside car park, road and pavements are frankly not fit for purpose and I have been in contact with both ACHA and our roads department about getting some work done in this area.

I am delighted with the high turnout of my surgery and I will make sure to continue to lobby relentlessly to improve Infrastructure in Carradale and across the Kintyre and Islands ward.

Cllr Alastair Redman