PORT Street has been closed to traffic one way and a number of flats have been evacuated since December 20 due to a building being deemed unsafe by Stirling Council.
The disruption occurred when a member of the public reported defects in the stonework above the Let’s Party Shop, under further investigation Stirling Council discovered the beams between the two buildings are rotting and the building is not safe.
Resulting in the road being closed for the foreseeable future. After deeming the building unsafe the necessary construction work now lies with the landlords rather than Stirling Council.
A specialist engineering company has been appointed by the property owners to lead on the repair of the building.
The businesses located on the affected side of the street are still open and are using back entrances avoiding the dangerous area enabling them to stay open for business.
But the road is still shut in one direction, meaning vehicles travelling from Dumbarton Road and Upper Craigs are unable to turn on to Port Street. Nadeem Abbas the owner of Port Street News said his profits have dropped by nearly 60% and newspaper sales have halved.
Saying his regular customers just aren’t coming anymore with access difficult for the elderly and people with prams to get in with all the fences.
Residents from the upper properties were evacuated just days before Christmas, losing any access to their flats and having to find temporary accommodation.
Initially they were told ,worst case scenario, the work would take four weeks and they would regain access on the 17th January but now it is uncertain.
Although because a number of owners are involved there have been disagreements on plans to go forward with the construction causing further disruption.
The first phase of construction work was estimated to be finished by the end of January but halfway through the month the work has still not started.
Phase one of the works will include instating a temporary support structure to secure the building allowing phase two to begin and Stirling Council to reopen the rest of the street. When phase one is complete, phase two will begin which involves the design and approval of future permanent repair works and may require listed building approval.
Andrew Fleming a resident who has currently being evacuated from his flat said, “The most obstructive part about this entire process was the handling of the entire situation.
“We weren’t given any real information about how long or how serious the whole scenario was. What’s more, is that this was right before Christmas, a very hectic time, and I had just ordered the entirety of my Christmas shopping for delivery and agreed to take shifts over the Christmas period. But with no home security or answers, this all fell through.”
Film Media and Journalism student at the University of Stirling. Editor in Chief at Brig Newspaper. Edinburgh / Stirling
