A “horrified” Angus community have condemned plans for a drug rehab centre on their doorstep.
Residents in Bridgend of Lintrathen are in uproar over proposals to transform the Lochside Lodge restaurant and hotel into a live-in rehabilitation centre, capable of handling 10 drug addicts and alcoholics at a time.
One deeply worried resident has branded the news a “living nightmare” and slammed proposals to treat drug addicts in the quiet hamlet.
Fiona Dunham said, “I can’t sleep. I can’t begin to tell you how worried I am. It’s an absolute living nightmare.
“Part of the reason why I live out here is to be away from that sort of thing.
“My family doesn’t want to live in a city or town because we don’t want to be amongst that, and now it’s being brought right to our door.
“These private clinics are normally in country houses with large grounds where they won’t affect anybody. But the lodge is right next to several homes, and people can see right into it.
“I can’t see how that is acceptable. How can that be an ideal situation, either for nearby residents, or those in the centre?”
She added that parents in the wider community were also deeply concerned about the rehab centre’s location so close to the new Glens ‘superschool’, which will serve Lintrathen, Airlie, Kilry and Glen Isla when it is ready later this year.
The school is about a mile away.
“The area will be blighted by this,” Ms Dunham continued.
“And will parents want their children to go to the new school in light of this potential development?
“Everybody here is just horrified. The lodge doesn’t have sufficient grounds, so will these addicts be out and about in the area, and will their visitors be out and about?
“Will it create crime?”
She added that locals hoped to start a petition against the proposals and planned to stage a public meeting.
The planned centre is the brainchild of Renaissance People Limited, a Glasgow company that specialises in drug rehabilitation.
It provides short-term treatment to addicts whose recovery would be hindered if they remained in their own community.
The company has stressed that residents have “nothing to fear” from their planned centre, and that they hope to meet to address their concerns and questions.
“We are more than happy to meet with the local residents and detail exactly what we intend to do at the site,” said a spokesman.
“They have absolutely nothing to fear from us.”
In their applicationthey also said, “We believe that the property is an ideal location as it fulfils a number of key criteria.
“The centre is located in a small hamlet, providing an ideal remote rural setting in a low density residential area.
“The property and hamlet provides a quiet tranquil setting ideally suited to our requirement of operating calmly and discreetly.”
“One of the main attractions of this setting is its complete lack of local services. Too often the existence of local services can prove extremely tempting to service users, causing them to breach rules on unauthorised absence.”
Renaissance People added that only 300 detox beds are available in Scotland and that the 10 beds it plans to create will help to alleviate the strain caused by treating the country’s 52,000 drug addicts.
Its treatment programme incorporates a mix of holistic therapies, health and wellbeing advice, and skills classes.
Kirriemuir Landward West Community Council said that it was aware of the planning application and of “some strong views” from local residents, but stressed that it had no official position on the proposals at this time.
Chairman Roger Clegg said, “We have not yet received formal notification of the application.
“We have heard about it but there hasn’t been anything formal, and the community council is not due to meet for some time,” he added, stressing that the community body’s official stance would be decided upon then.
The planned centre is the brainchild of Renaissance People Limited, a Glasgow company that specialises in drug rehabilitation.
It provides short-term treatment to addicts whose recovery would be hindered if they remained in their own community.
The company has stressed that residents have “nothing to fear” from their planned centre, and that they hope to meet to address their concerns and questions.
“We are more than happy to meet with the local residents and detail exactly what we intend to do at the site,” said a spokesman.
“They have absolutely nothing to fear from us.”
In their applicationthey also said, “We believe that the property is an ideal location as it fulfils a number of key criteria.
“The centre is located in a small hamlet, providing an ideal remote rural setting in a low density residential area.
“The property and hamlet provides a quiet tranquil setting ideally suited to our requirement of operating calmly and discreetly.”
“One of the main attractions of this setting is its complete lack of local services. Too often the existence of local services can prove extremely tempting to service users, causing them to breach rules on unauthorised absence.”
Renaissance People added that only 300 detox beds are available in Scotland and that the 10 beds it plans to create will help to alleviate the strain caused by treating the country’s 52,000 drug addicts.
Its treatment programme incorporates a mix of holistic therapies, health and wellbeing advice, and skills classes.
Kirriemuir Landward West Community Council said that it was aware of the planning application and of “some strong views” from local residents, but stressed that it had no official position on the proposals at this time.
Chairman Roger Clegg said, “We have not yet received formal notification of the application.
“We have heard about it but there hasn’t been anything formal, and the community council is not due to meet for some time,” he added, stressing that the community body’s official stance would be decided upon then.