People living in lodges at a “luxury” holiday park in Perthshire claim they regularly have to put up with sewage overflows and a stinking dirty bin as managers and owners are ignoring the problems.
Several people living at Grand Eagles Luxury Lodge Park off the A824 north east of Auchterarder, say a septic tank on the site often overflows leaving sewage lying on the ground near their properties and badly needs replaced.
They are also concerned the sewage is leaking into the nearby Pairney Burn which runs along the south eastern edge of the park.
The same people also say a communal bin they all put their waste in does not get washed and residents are having to put up with an overpowering stench every time they put their rubbish out because of the muck building up at the bottom.
Most of the permanent residents who shared their story declined to be named out of concern over potential repercussions.
They say the park is currently owned by a company registered in London called Earlmoor Properties.
One resident said: “The biggest issue is the septic tank - it’s not working properly and it’s rarely emptied. We keep being told it’s going to be replaced but it never happens.
“The other thing is the skip - it’s never, ever been cleaned and it’s only being emptied once a fortnight. The smell is awful.”
And a relative of another resident said: “The septic tank has been in a bit of state for about two years now and it’s contaminating the burn.
“The tank is not big enough for all the people coming onto the site now and it’s not getting emptied often enough.
“The skip is also not getting emptied often enough and the area around about it is just a mess.”
All the residents say the above issues have been reported to Perth and Kinross Council’s environmental health team and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) but neither seem willing to take tough action against the park’s owners to remedy the situation.
The PA contacted a park worker to request a response from the owners to the residents’ claims. The individual said he would pass our details on to the owners so they could respond but no-one representing the owners had contacted the PA before the physical paper went to press yesterday (Thursday, July 29).
The park worker, who declined to tell us his name, said: “I’ve not seen any maintenance issues myself.”
A PKC spokesperson commented: “Environmental health officers visited the site in June and discussed the general maintenance of the site with the operator.
“The site was found to be in a generally tidy condition and there was no sign of leakage from the septic tank, although officers were advised that a new tank has been ordered.
And a SEPA spokesperson said: “SEPA is working with the owners of Grand Eagles Luxury Lodge Park to address issues of concern around the sewage treatment system currently in place.
“Having visited the site a number of times to carry out inspections we are confident that there is no significant environmental impact on the Pairney Burn as a result of discharges.
“Our officers are working with the site owners to ensure a more effective system is installed, which will provide appropriate protection for the water environment.
“We would encourage anyone with pollution concerns to report this via our 24-hour online form at www.sepa.org.uk/report”
