The Glassel Park Association (GPA) in Longniddry has expressed gratitude to the Cruden Group on their removing 7000 litres of oil from an obsolete underground tank and certifying it as safe, together with demolishing and removing an associated derelict pump house and its equipment from a 1970s housing estate within the village.
GPA chairman, Clive Davies, explains: “Back in the 1970s, the Scottish Residential Estates Development Company Ltd (SREDC), a former subsidiary company of the Cruden Group, built a housing development in Longniddry on land purchased from Weymss Estate.
“A condition of the sale was that most of the land consisting of open spaces and the passageways between the houses, would to be transferred to the ownership of a trust set up and named as The Glassel Park Association which would be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the open grass areas, trees and the open areas between the properties. This would be funded by an annual fee payable by the residents of the development at an amount recommended by the committee and voted on at the annual AGM.
“As part of the project works at that time, SREDC were required to install a domestic oil service to most of the properties, which involved the installation of an underground storage tank and a pump house.
“In time, largely due to rapidly rising oil prices, the energy supply was transferred to gas for all properties, which, of course, made the oil based system obsolete, leaving around 7000 litres of oil in the underground tank, which may eventually have started to leak into the subsoil, along with the pump house which, over the years, was in a state of collapse.
“Understandably, these issues were of some considerable concern to GPA, but unfortunately, we were not in a position financially to rectify the situation, so we contacted The Cruden Group to ask for their assistance.
“The Cruden Group managing director, Kevin Reid and his team were very supportive of our situation. After advising him of all relevant information, he stated that Cruden Group would be happy to accept the challenge of removing the oil from the tank, certifying it as safe, together with demolishing and removing the derelict pump house and its equipment. As you can imagine, we were delighted to hear this.
“Cruden Group’s resulting remedial action cleared the area in only a few days. Now, with help from a small grant from the Longniddry Community Council, we are planning to replant the area with wild flower meadow grass which in time, will help restore this part of the wonderful facility we have here for the benefit of all householders and visitors.
“GPA would very much wish to express our thanks to Mr Reid and The Cruden Group for their agreeing to resolve this matter”.
Kevin Reid, Cruden Group Managing Director said: “Cruden Group has an active policy of community engagement at each of our development locations. We have a long and established history in East Lothian which will be bolstered further by a number of forthcoming housing projects in the region over the coming years. We were thrilled to be able to assist the GPA and I am pleased to learn that they are delighted with the outcome.”
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