Clare Haughey MSP has slammed South Lanarkshire Council after it has admitted that residents living in a Rutherglen block of flats may have to wait over a year before their lift is repaired.
The Rutherglen MSP has been in dialogue with the council over the matter after she was first contacted by concerned residents of Greenhill Court in February this year, after the lift broke down.
The SNP politician criticised the council, claiming it has taken her over seven months of regular correspondence to get a full response from the local authority about the situation.
The council have concluded that due to “substantial and prolonged water ingress” the lift is beyond repair.
In a letter to Ms Haughey, the council stated that they estimate that engineers will not be on site to replace the lift “until the new financial year”. which starts next April. That will be over a year since the lift first broke down.
Even if some residents are not directly affected themselves, Ms Haughey says that many are finding the lifts in their block are busier as a result of the breakdown, and that they are concerned about their state of repair.
“This is altogether a wholly unacceptable situation,” said the MSP. “I have had to contact the council repeatedly throughout the whole of the spring and summer to try to get information – after residents themselves reported struggling to get a straight answer on when the lift would be repaired.
“This is not just an inconvenience – for residents with mobility issues or buggies and prams, this is having a huge impact. Others have told me about having to lug heavy shopping up the stairs, trek through corridors from one block to another to use other lifts, missing deliveries, or having to carry bulky deliveries like furniture upstairs.
“I appreciate that the council have now advised there can be a 12-week lead-in time for lift parts, but this does not explain why it will be well over 12 months before work starts.
“From the start, there has been a lack of urgency from the council – they now need to do the right thing and resolve this situation sooner rather than later”.
Craig Jardine, Head of Property Services at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience to Greenhill Court residents while this lift is out of use.
“As previously advised to Clare Haughey MSP, the lift has been assessed and is not able to be repaired.
“A contractor has now been engaged and updates will be provided to the residents and the elected member as the programme of works progresses.”
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