	The children's Halloween Party at the fire station on Sunday afternoon was a great success with more than 30 local children dressing up and coming along. At times the noise inside was deafening but suffice to say I think everyone had a great time. Well done to fire crew and parents who organised and ran it. No doubt the Campbeltown fire engine was much in demand this evening as the town was once again flooded-out after a short but heavy downpour at lunchtime.
Parts of both Longrow and Bolgam Street were knee-deep in flood water with Police diverting traffic away from these areas. Photos showing the extent of the flooding can be found in the forums section of the Visit Kintyre website. Rumour has it that the pumping station wasn't operating at the time of the shower, hence the drainage system rapidly becoming overloaded. There has been great debate in recent months as to when Scottish Water are finally going to get the drainage problem in Campbeltown sorted out, especially as they've already been paid millions of pounds to do it once and failed. Scottish Water aren't immensely popular in Carradale either. When the previous water company built the pumping station along the Bay Road a few years ago it was agreed that they would maintain the access road. This is an unmetalled track and naturally suffers greatly from the heavy vehicles the water board drive along it. When this was subsequently taken over by Scottish Water they appear to have taken the opportuntity to disregard that earlier agreement and by spring this year the road had fallen into a very poor state. The Bay Road leads down to the carpark by the beach at Carradale Bay and is used all year round but especially in summer when we have a lot of holiday-makers in the village. Obviously the condition of the road was of great concern to all. Letters to Scottish Water from the EKCC went unanswered and it was only when the Carradale Tourist Promotion Group stepped-in and effected repairs that the condition of the road improved. The water board, of course, still drive their large trucks down it.

31-10-05 Halloween Party