C30 (Kilmaha) Road Closure Review
Argyll and Bute Council · 26 June 2025
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COUNCIL MONITORING OFFICER 26TH JUNE 2025 C30 (KILMAHA) ROAD CLOSURE REVIEW 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 As part of the weather event on 7th October 2023, there was a landslip on the C30 Road at Kilmaha which resulted in in the road not being physically possible to travel along, and closed as a result. The road was opened to the public and for vehicular and pedestrian traffic on 22nd December 2023 for a temporary period. The road was closed again on 8th January 2024 and ultimately re- opened on 21st June 2024. 1.2 The Council’s Executive Directors thereafter instructed officers to undertake a Lessons Learned Review in relation to the C30 at Kilmaha. That Review found that the re-closure of the road on 8th January 2024 was not carried out in accordance with statutory requirements. Given the finding of a contravention of the relevant legislation, the Monitoring Officer considers that he is required to report this to the Council in terms of Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. 2.0 RECOMMENDATIONS The Council is invited to: 2.1 Consider the relevant findings of the C30 (Kilmaha) Lessons Learned Review, as outlined within this Report. 2.2 Note, in particular, the finding that there was no legal basis in place for Roads and Infrastructure Services to re-close the road as they did on 8th January 2024 – thus breaching the requirements of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. 2.3 Note that the Council’s Monitoring Officer is required, under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, to report to the Council if he considers that in the course of the discharge of the Council’s functions any
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proposal, decision or omission has resulted in a contravention “of any enactment or rule of law or of any code of practice made or approved by or under any enactment”. 2.4 Note that the Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services and the Interim Head of Roads and Infrastructure Services are taking steps to implement the Review findings, for the purpose of mitigating the risks of any similar breaches of legislation by the Service occurring in the future.
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COUNCIL MONITORING OFFICER 26TH JUNE 2025 C30 (KILMAHA) ROAD CLOSURE REVIEW 3.0 INTRODUCTION 3.1 After the C30 at Kilmaha fully re-opened in June 2024, a Lessons Learned Review was undertaken by officers. This Review was completed in November 2024, and reported to the Council’s Executive Leadership Team on 7th January 2025. 3.2 The Review covered several issues that arose in relation to the C30 at Kilmaha – namely: communication issues between the teams in Roads and Infrastructure Services; differing views amongst officers in the Service as to the proportionality of the remedial works that were ultimately carried out; the temporary opening of the road in December 2023; re-closure of the road in January 2024; and how effectively the Service kept the Executive Director appraised as to the progress of the remedial works. 3.3 The Monitoring Officer has considered the Review findings and, in particular, considers that the finding that the Service re-closed the road in January 2024 without complying with the relevant legislation to be a matter which requires to be reported to the Council by virtue of Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS The Council is invited to: 4.1 Consider the relevant findings of the C30 (Kilmaha) Lessons Learned Review, as outlined within this Report.
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4.2 Note, in particular, the finding that there was no legal basis in place for Roads and Infrastructure Services to re-close the road as they did on 8th January 2024 – thus breaching the requirements of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. 4.3 Note that the Council’s Monitoring Officer is required, under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, to report to the Council if he considers that in the course of the discharge of the Council’s functions any proposal, decision or omission has resulted in a contravention “of any enactment or rule of law or of any code of practice made or approved by or under any enactment”. 4.4 Note that the Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services and the Interim Head of Roads and Infrastructure Services are taking steps to implement the Review findings, for the purpose of mitigating the risks of any similar breaches of legislation by the Service occurring in the future. 5.0 DETAIL 5.1 On the weekend of 7th October 2023, a severe weather event occurred, causing numerous serious disruptions across the road network in Argyll and Bute. There were approximately 30 affected sites across the Council’s roads network, with many subsequent landslips and other issues being discovered in the days following 7th October 2023. Such was the extent of the disruption that it was not until the latter part of the week commencing 9th October 2023 that the Operations Team within Roads and Infrastructure Services were physically able to get access to the site of the landslip at the C30 (Kilmaha) in order to assess the situation properly. Officers took the position at that time that the C30 at Kilmaha was impassable due to the landslip and had effectively closed itself. This position was supported by legal advice to that effect. 5.2 As soon as the Operations Team were able to get access to the C30 at Kilmaha, repair works were commenced by that Team (using framework contractors). Around late October 2023 there was a change in contractor, and the team within Roads and Infrastructure Services with responsibility for the works at the site (i.e. the Infrastructure Design Team) – as instructed by the Head of Service. 5.3 Towards the end of 2023, repair works continued, but the contractor was due to leave the site between 22nd December 2023 and 8th January 2024. They advised that the Council could re-open the road during that period if so minded. However, insufficient notice was given by the Infrastructure Design Team to the Network and Standards Team for them to effect a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order to re-open the road with a speed and weight restriction in force, as per the
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requirements of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. However, as the contractors were indicating that the road appeared to be safe to re-open to traffic, the Network and Standards Team advised colleagues that it may be possible to re-open the road and erect advisory signage in relation to the suggested speed and weight limits. This is what the Head of Service ultimately decided to do on or around 20th December 2023. 5.4 The C30 at Kilmaha was closed again on 8th January 2024, when the contractors came back on site following the festive break. No Order or Notice, issued in terms of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, was in place to authorise this re-closure. Officers in the Network and Standards Team subsequently raised their concerns regarding non-compliance with the requirements of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 with the Head of Service, and thereafter escalated their concerns to the Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services. 5.5 The road remained closed without any Notice or Order in place (by virtue of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984) until 9th April 2024 – the date on which the first Emergency Notice came into force, despite legal advice being given to the Service during that period that in absence of any lawful Notice or Order, the road should be re-opened immediately. 5.6 After the C30 at Kilmaha was fully re-opened and operational on 21st June 2024, the Executive Director with Responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services took steps to plan and commence a Lessons Learned Review in relation to the matter, in conjunction with the Monitoring Officer. That investigation identified that there was no legal basis in place for the Service to re-close the road on 8th January 2024 and accordingly found that this exposed the Council to legal, financial and reputational risks as a result of the failure to comply with the applicable legislation. 5.7 The recommendations of the Review as to next steps were agreed by the Council’s Executive Leadership Team at their meeting on 7th January 2025. Included therein is a training session for all teams within Roads and Infrastructure Services to promote awareness of the statutory procedures and timescales for Traffic Regulation Orders. If officers across that Service have a better understanding of those processes, it is anticipated that this could mitigate the likelihood of any similar breaches of the legislation arising in the future. The Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services is in the process of working with the Interim Head of Roads and Infrastructure Services to facilitate this session, and implement the other recommendations arising from the Review.
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6.0 CONCLUSION 6.1 The Review found that there was no legal basis in place for Roads and Infrastructure Services to re-close the C30 at Kilmaha, as it did on 8th January 2024. This, along with the fact that no lawful Notice or Order was put in place until April 2024 exposed the Council to legal, financial and reputational risks during that period. 6.2 The failure of the Service to comply with the relevant legislation in relation to the above has triggered the Monitoring Officer’s statutory duty to report the same to the Council. 6.3 Elected Members are also invited to note the steps that are being undertaken by the Executive Director and the Interim Head of Service to prevent a reoccurrence of the issues outlined within this report. 7.0 IMPLICATIONS 7.1 Policy – In implementing the Review recommendations, the Executive Director and Interim Head of Service will conduct further work with officers in Roads and Infrastructure Services to improve awareness of, and compliance with, the relevant statutory requirements in relation to road closures. 7.2 Financial – None arising from this report. 7.3 Legal – This report has been prepared by the Monitoring Officer in accordance with his statutory reporting duties under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. 7.4 HR – None arising from this report. 7.5 Customer Service - None arising from this report. 7.6 Risk – Legal, financial, and reputational risks to the Council were identified by the Review in respect of the failure of Roads and Infrastructure Services to comply with the relevant legislation in relation to the re- closure of the C30 at Kilmaha on 8th January 2024. 7.7 Climate Change – None arising from this report. 7.8 Fairer Scotland Duty - None arising from this report. 7.9 Equalities (protected characteristics) – None arising from this report. 7.10 Consumer Duty – None arising from this report. 7.11 Island Communities – None arising from this report.
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7.12 Children’s Rights and Wellbeing – None arising from this report. DOUGLAS HENDRY Monitoring Officer 10th June 2025 For further information contact: Graeme McMillan, Transformation Programme Manager, Graeme.mcmillan2@argyll-bute.gov.uk