Ground movement in a Clackmannanshire village has forced 60 homes out of their properties, after another 30 houses were evacuated on Wednesday in Dunmoss View, Coalsnaughton. Residents said they were given only minutes to leave amid fears that the ground under the street had become unsafe.
The latest evacuations came a week after 30 homes in the nearby Benbuck View were told to leave. Some residents said they had seen cracks in their homes and heard strange noises before they moved out, while others said they were told to leave within 10 minutes to 20 minutes as the situation changed.
Margo Brown, who has lived in her housing association property for six years, was among those asked to leave Dunmoss View on Wednesday. She said her husband spotted a new gap between their gate and the gate post earlier in the week, and that the step at their front door had shifted. On Thursday, Brown was allowed back with her husband and daughter to collect personal belongings.
“He came into the house and said ‘I think we’re moving’, and that was it,” Brown said. She said the speed of the evacuation left little time to think, adding: “You’re waiting about all day trying to find out what’s going to happen, then we got an email saying, no it’s OK, you don’t have to get out.”
“Then 20 minutes later, ‘all out, everybody out’,” she said. Brown also said: “The step at the front door has moved so you can get your fingers right in.”
Clackmannanshire Council leader Ellen Forson said the scale of the disruption made it impossible to say the danger had stopped with one street. “Obviously this time last week it was one street and there were no indications that another street would be impacted,” she said. “Then yesterday we saw there was another street, so I think it’s natural to be a bit worried that there could be other streets involved.”
Forson said more evacuations could not be ruled out. “At this time we can’t rule out anything, but the Mining Remediation Authority are the experts on this, they’re leading the site investigations and we’ll hear back from them if anything else changes,” she said.
The evacuation is tied to ground movement in Coalsnaughton, where a Mining Remediation Authority map shows there was a mine entry on what is now Dunmoss View. The area is also marked as having past shallow coal mine workings, a reminder that the ground beneath the village has a long and unsettled history.
What began with Benbuck View has now spread to Dunmoss View, and the immediate question is no longer whether one street is affected, but how far the unstable ground reaches. For families like Brown’s, the answer will determine whether they can go home soon or whether the cordon widens again.
