NEGLIGENT and disgraceful – that’s how one Dunoon hotelier described the local council’s current inaction over the rapid expansion of weeds in the town’s West Bay.
Overgrown vegetation and wild flowers have taken over large areas along the 1,000-metre-long shingle beach, and the situation has become so bad that business owners and residents are laying the blame squarely with the local council.
Weeds in West Bay have been a long-running problem. In 2022, after sustained public pressure, the local authority cleared them through a local contractor. Since then, the weeds have returned and no long-term solution has ever been implemented.
However, the council maintain they have a strategy, one which employs vegetation removal and beach re-profiling as opposed to chemical treatments.
A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council this week explained: “Having considered the options available, we feel removing vegetation and re-profiling the beach at West Bay is the most effective and economical way of dealing with the weeds in the area.”
They added: “This will be done annually, usually at the end of July or early August, which is the most appropriate time to undertake the work.”
But some local hoteliers feel Dunoon is being ignored and, as the summer season comes to a close, many of them believe any action taken now will be too little, too late.
One business owner who wished to remain anonymous told this newspaper: “What is the point in clearing weeds in August as the summer season comes to a close? How on earth is that the most appropriate time to get them cleared?
“What kind of advert is it for the town for those tourists who are here in August to be greeted by diggers on the beach clearing ton after ton of weeds? This is something which needs a long-term solution or, at the very least, it’s dealt with in April or May before the summer season begins.”
Hotelier Kenny Dominick has been raising the issue of weeds in West Bay for over three years now. He believes that the clear-up is an afterthought and one which is seriously damaging Dunoon’s tourism.
He explained: “It’s disgraceful and negligent that the council regard this as the standard for Dunoon for tourism.
“The Isle of Bute is currently nominated for a UK Town of Culture; is that where their allegiance lies and everywhere else is left behind? What about the state of the swing park for kids at West Bay, what about the weeds taking over the town and Argyll Gardens?
“All this should be regulated yearly after winter so that the place is spruced up for tourists and residents. Make it a happy place and people will stop grumbling.”
