The owner of a field at the centre of plans for an A82 relief road in Dumbarton says she has lost trust in West Dunbartonshire Council.
Susan Dick says she fears being forced off her land leaving her, her elderly horses and her future business plans “high and dry”.
Speaking out after receiving a letter from the local authority confirming that they would only offer cash for her field and not an alternative site, Susan said: “We felt we were working towards getting them providing us with a field swap as they have a potentially suitable field.
“We were working towards that or I thought we were but last week they sent me a letter saying there would be no field, only cash. It came totally out of the blue
“I’ve got absolutely no trust in the council whatsoever.
“My concern is that they are stringing us along and that they will remove the field forcibly from my ownership – leaving me, my horses and my future business high and dry.
“We thought we were working towards a common goal with the council, but this is now the third time that they’ve said they have searched extensively for land but can’t find anything.
“They have done very little.
“I supplied them with contact names and numbers for all the available sites within the area.
“I identified council owned land to them that I felt was suitable; land that was never commented on.
“We’re constantly trying to buy land because we knew this would happen. But nobody will sell us a bit regardless of how much we offer.
“Our only chance is that the council helps us, which they should be doing.”
Ms Dick has been embroiled in a long-fought battle with West Dunbartonshire Council which wants to divert the relief road through the pony field that has been home to her beloved animals.
Susan launched a campaign to save her field more than four years ago after the council told her they would need the land as part of the £34million Glasgow City Region Deal development.
She uses her fields to operate a therapy centre for chronically ill ponies, and worries about the impact the upheaval of a move could have.
Susan continued: “The ponies could genuinely lose their lives if we lose the field – which we could do at a minute’s notice.
“Our oldest, Buddy, is 31 which is 105 in horse years.
“I need a home for my ponies and somewhere to rebury my dead ones and the new Exxon development is only taking up a tiny bit of the whole site.
“The bulk of Exxon is to be green open space so you would think that the council, if they were serious about helping us, could find a small corner of this unused land for my ponies to live out their days on.
“It’s a fair thing to do to swap it over then we’d all be happy, but now they want to bulldoze my field and the graves of ponies and just give me cash which is useless as there are no fields for me to buy in the area.
“I have had no explanations as to why they are not sticking to the plan we thought we were working towards.
“No local landowners will sell no matter how much money I can offer so I’ll be left with nothing and my ponies could have nowhere to live and could lose their lives as a result.”
And Susan added that the situation is taking its toll on her personal life.
She added: “We struggle on, my partner suffers from mental health issues. The horses provide help with that.
“The money involved isn’t enough to allow us to buy a house with land somewhere else. But it also involves relocating. Which is really difficult for someone suffering from mental health issues and when I’m the only breadwinner.
“I’ve always lived in the area and I don’t want to be forced to move away.”
A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council said that the only suitable field identified was not owned by West Dunbartonshire Council.
They added that work was continuing to find a solution, saying: “Our agents continue to liaise with Ms Dick to agree on terms for the purchase of her land.”
