AN angry farmer whose land has been ‘cut in half’ by the year-long closure of a damaged countryside road is demanding a long-term solution to get the route re-opened.
Shielhill farm owner Neil McIntyre says the amount of time he has to spend getting around his farm has shot up since the closure of Dunrod Road in July of last year.
Inverclyde Council decided to shut the vital route last year amid concerns about movement of the slope it sits on.
They have since installed large metal fences which completely cut off access to the badly cracked carriageway.
READ MORE: Ardgowan Fishery boss says road closure is killing his business
Mr McIntyre says the closure has had a major impact on his business and fears that it could wreak havoc on his ability to look after his livestock and staff this winter.
He said: “Eighty per cent of my land is on one side of the road and the other side has my house on it.
“If I’m delivering logs what took me half a day now takes me a full day.
“Going round with the tractor takes me an extra 40 minutes now.
“I have to do that once a day and then if I have to go down to Inverkip, Wemyss Bay or Skelmorlie a few times a day it adds more time on.
“What used to be a 20 minute job is now an hour long job.
“During lambing season we have to be able to get over there every hour.
“It’s a constant problem and my costs have gone up because of it.”
Mr McIntyre says Inverclyde Council must bring forward a long-term solution for the road before the impact becomes too great for his business to bear.
The local authority previously invested a significant sum in repairing the road after it was affected by a landslip over a decade ago.
But Mr McIntyre says it is obvious more needs to be done.
He said: “The council already spent hundreds of thousands on that road and it’s still ended up closed.
“When they put the fence in on the road, I asked them if they could leave me a gap so I could at least get a quad bike by.
“If I have a dead sheep or an injured sheep in the wintertime I can’t go with my pickup.
“But right now I have to go along The Cut and cut down a field at the end.
“Come winter time that field will be swamped and there will be no access for me to get round there.
“I need access to both sides, it’s cut in half at the moment.
“It could be years before they do anything with the road, but what if there’s an emergency and I need to get round?
“I’m absolutely furious about the state of things.”
Yesterday the Tele told how Mr McIntyre’s neighbour and fellow businessman Robert Kirkpatrick had lost thousands of pounds due to the road’s closure.
The Ardgowan Fishery owner, alongside Mr McIntyre, has launched a petition calling for the route to be re-opened.
The petition can be found at https://tinyurl.com/58ckhzub.
Responding to the concerns raised by Mr Kirkpatrick and Mr McIntyre, an Inverclyde Council spokesperson said: “The road remains closed for safety reasons.
“The road has, in the past, been affected by landslip and repairs were carried out a number of years ago but there are once again concerns about movement of the slope which is why it is closed.
“We understand the inconvenience this is causing and working as quickly as we can to find a suitable, long-term solution.”
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