Council giving 'advice' after third wall collapse

A council is giving "advice" to a landowner after a historic boundary wall in a town in Nottinghamshire collapsed for the third time in three months.

People living on and near Redhill Road, in Arnold, have called for action over the wall to "safeguard the public" after "near misses with both vehicles and schoolchildren".

Some sections of the 18th Century wall were already being rebuilt when the latest partial collapse took place earlier in February, residents said.

Gedling Borough Council said its advice had regarded ensuring the safety of the structure.

The collapsed sections of wall have been fenced off, and the site of the first collapse was midway through being rebuilt with breeze blocks - using some of the original stone to top it off - when the latest collapse occurred.

Resident Andrew Jackson, 58, who captured the three incidents on CCTV, said the collapses into the road posed a safety danger.

The first collapse happened on 7 December, the second on 13 January and the third on 6 February.

He said the wall needed to be repaired to a standard where it could last for another 100 years.

"The majority of people, because it's a dead end, just walk straight past it not knowing it could fall," he said.

"The Redhill Academy is up the road, and when pupils come out, they come out in droves and basically fill the whole road.

"The second time it happened, it missed a big crowd of kids by about five minutes."

Another resident, Judith Kirton, 56, said the state of the wall reminded her of coastal erosion.

"With all the rain we get, I think eventually the whole lot is going to collapse now that two bungalows have been built atop the bank [behind the wall]," she said.

"It just adds a nice bit of character on to the road, it's a shame it's in rack and ruin."

Bob Massey, co-founder of the Arnold Local History Group, said the wall originated from The Enclosure Acts in the 18th Century.

Enclosure was the radical change to the countryside which replaced the open field system of farming. Instead of open land, there were fields with fences or hedges round them.

Massey said the boundary wall helped "define" what modern Arnold was today.

"It's a long, complex story, but this wall is part of the fabric of the town and its character," he said.

But he said there was a risk this heritage could be lost because of the collapses.

"I don't think it's an easily solvable problem, unless you repair the whole wall from end to end, and that's a very expensive thing. I understand why it wouldn't necessarily be done," he added.

Gedling Borough Council said its building control team and Via East Midlands, which is responsible for highway maintenance, were aware of the collapses.

A council spokesperson said: "[We] have been providing advice to the owner to ensure the safety of the structure.

"There are ongoing discussions between both the council's building control and planning teams and the owner of the site.

"This is to ensure the repairs to the wall are undertaken using an appropriate material and method of construction."

The landowner has been approached for comment.

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