'The council dug a crater on my land without telling me'

A woman was left stunned when her local council began digging up her land, leaving it looking like a "crater", just months after they agreed to give her ownership.

Susan Dick only discovered West Dunbartonshire Council was carrying out redevelopment on the Littlemill area, near Bowling, when bulldozers appeared.

The local authority had previously reached an agreement to purchase 5.5 acres (2.2ha) of land from her to facilitate a redevelopment at the nearby former Exxon oil terminal.

But part of this deal saw Susan given a patch of land instead at nearby Littlemill, which she intended to use to re-bury the remains of two ponies.

West Dunbartonshire Council said it understood her frustration and that it was currently working to restore the land.

Susan told BBC Scotland News no-one had asked her for permission before beginning the work.

She said: "No-one notified us, no-one said anything at all to us - there wasn't even anything hinted at through the grapevine.

"Someone I know had driven by Littlemill, and phoned me to say 'Susan, there's now bulldozers on your land and the old wall is gone.' That's a shock to hear."

Discussions over purchasing previous land Susan owned had lasted for over a decade before an agreement was struck.

West Dunbartonshire Council intend to turn the overall Exxon site into a mixed-use industrial and commercial development, with improved transport infrastructure surrounding it.

A small part of nearby land and an access road were owned by Susan, who runs a not for profit pony therapy business called Patchwork Ponies, until she agreed a deal with the council in the summer of 2024.

That site is being turned into a relief road by the council as part of the new project Glasgow City Region City Deal project.

She explained: "We had a couple of the ponies buried there, and I wasn't prepared to leave them there to be dug up as part of the development.

"As part of the negotiation I was given the land at Littlemill, so I could bury the ponies there and they could be safe."

However, six months later Susan began noticing red and white tape marked on the grounds.

She initially thought this was due to fallen trees and the partial removal of a wall for safety reasons, but then bulldozers appeared at the site.

Susan recalled: "The council came back to me weeks later and said they needed a bit of the land - they didn't say to me what they were doing, just that it was needed.

"From March until this month there was no access to parts of my land, the wall has been half removed, all the trees have been removed and they have dug what can be best described as a crater there.

"I can't rebury the ponies until I know exactly what is planned. Eventually my lawyers got details this month, which says they've taken a narrow strip of land at the side of the road from me, and replaced it with another strip opposite there."

"I never signed anything or agreed to them doing anything, and I have the deeds for the land."

The remains of the ponies are currently in storage until they can be properly buried again.

Susan added that she would like to know why the council did not approach her before beginning work, but had not yet received an answer.

BBC Scotland News understands the work at Littlemill was tied into the ongoing large-scale development at the old Exxon site.

The new plan includes storage, distribution, industrial, business and office space.

A West Dunbartonshire Council spokesperson said: "The council is in direct contact with Ms Dick and her agents and we remain committed to working with her to ensure she has use of land which is appropriate to her needs.

"We appreciate her frustrations and are sorry she is not currently able to use the land at Littlemill however access is now available and we are working to restore the wall as soon as practicably possible."