A Balmaha business owner has taken the difficult decision to close due to pressure piled on traders by bridge and road closures in west Stirlingshire.
The Perch Coffeeshop closed last month, with five staff being made redundant and one being re-employed in the owner’s accommodaton business, with the owner citing the closure of the Catterburn Bridge, at Croftamie, for cutting off it’s regular flow of customers.
Charles Cottam opened the Balmaha shop last year following the collapse of his wedding business due to the Covid pandemic.
He told the Observer: “The Perch Coffeeshop was an idea borne out of necessity. Our wedding business had collapsed during the lockdown. We found that refunding or rescheduling the many brides that were affected was such a soul-destroying business that we did not want to do it again.
“So when the lockdown seemed to be ending – although with much talk of it possibly being reimposed – the conversion of our facilities to a coffee shop seemed a better option. We spent heavily on the project by converting an existing building and re-roofing it, with a new floor and internal and external walls and we did most of the work as a family ourselves. Then we recruited around 10 people from the locality as waiting and chef staff.”
He added: “The first year was plagued with the well-publicised problems of trying to retain staff and recruit new ones to the extent that many projects to expand our successful accommodation business had to be put on the back burner. But despite these problems we were able to break even as 2021 continued into the summer months.
“Public reaction to the concept, menu and ambience that we had created was positive.
“We catered primarily for day visitors to Balmaha, from Bearsden, Milngavie and the rest of Glasgow, but we also found that West Highland Way walkers welcomed our hospitality after the long haul from Drymen. With a more reliable and experienced team coming together we felt sure that our venture would be a success and committed ourselves to staying open during the Winter and trading through to 2022.”
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Just as things were beginning to look up for the business, further disaster struck when Catterburn Bridge partially collapsed, forcing the vital route through Croftamie to close for emergency repairs.
The road there was shut, from the B834 to the A811, on September 30 last year.
Mr Cottam said: “The effect on our business was dramatic and immediate, with a sudden drop-off in the number of visitors.”
He claims the bridge had been “visibly distorting for 10 years prior to its collapse” and added that “the engineering, planning, environmental and technical studies that were undertaken proved that no action to prevent or mitigate a collapse had been taken during those 10 years”.
The businessman added: “Had we known that early assurances about the bridge reopening would prove false, we would not have traded this year and would have avoided a great deal of heartache and financial loss. We would like to reopen but will not consider doing so based on council assurances.”
In Balfron, a bridge collapse near the village has meant that ambitious plans to re-develop routes in to an Active Place project have been postponed.
Branshogle Bridge, on the B818, partially collapsed back in March last year and has remained out of bounds.
Balfron Community Council, the group behind the Active Places project in the village are hopefully that work can commence soon.
Community council chairman Colin Cameron told the Observer: “Obviously we want these bridge repairs resolved as soon as possible, particularly as they have created a long delay on the development plans we have in place for Buchanan Street under the Balfron Active Places project. These were due to begin in October 2021, having already been delayed by the Covid lockdown, but were put on hold as Buchanan Street became the route for traffic diverted from Croftamie and Fintry. And although there’s now talk of the Branshogle Bridge being opened this month, we are being advised by Stirling Council that the work on our developments is unlikely to begin before January 2023. Frustrating, but unavoidable under the circumstances.”
To add to commuters woes, last week we also told how a burst water main in Balfron has seen a section of the road shut and repairs could take up to three months. The pipe burst in Ballochruin Road, near to the bridge there, sometime on Thursday, September 29.
In an update, Scottish Water told the Observer that the latest breach of the pipe is close to the same location a leak occurred last year .
The spokesperson said: “We are carrying out investigations to determine the extent and cause of the damage before carrying out remedial works.
“This will require closing the road and while we have allowed up to 12 weeks for the repair, we anticipate completing it much sooner providing there are no unforeseen circumstances.
“We will do all that we can to mitigate against any disruption while we carry out the work safely. We would like to apologise to road users and residents and thank them for their patience.”
In September last year, we told how the Ballochruin bridge was forced to close after a massive fracture of a water pipe which carries supplies from Loch Katrine to Glasgow. Ballochruin bridge was out of bounds as Scottish Water carried out repairs to a section of the pipeline.
The structure, on the Ballochruin Road, C54, closed after one of the large cast-iron water main pipes fractured and caused the surface to subside.
Stirling Council this week said Catterburn Bridge should re-open by next March. A spokesperson said: “The current repair programme estimates that the bridge will likely reopen to single lane traffic from February 2023 and two lane traffic in March 2023.”
On Branshogle Bridge, the spokesperson added: “Significant progress has been made on the Branshogle Bridge with an imminent update due to be provided to residents and businesses this month at a further engagement event.”
