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No more stalling over the wall

5/ 8/2008

THE saga of a collapsed wall which has been blocking a public footpath since 2006 could finally be coming to an end.

Problems have been caused by dispute over ownership of the retaining wall at the rear of 28 and 30 Newport Street, Oldham.

The matter has been through the courts and still being disputed, but Oldham Council has now made the decision to carry out the works in default and charge the residents for the multi-thousand-pound costs – believed to be in the region of £75,000-£100,000.

Speaking through his agent, one of the residents, Arshad Mahmood, lodged objections to the council’s plan to rebuild the wall at a stepped height of 2.5m and 1.7m.

Mr Mahmood was not said to be against the works in principle, but to hold serious concerns over the smaller height of the structure.

The previous wall stood at more then four metres and Mr Mahmood said a replacement of similar height would be needed to protect his privacy and prevent any further landslide.

Cllr Javid Iqbal, also speaking against the application, said: "The current wall is at 4m and this is for 1.7m. This will leave no privacy.

"If it is built to that height there is also a further risk to land subsidence, which leaves Mr Mahmood with a garden at a 45-degree angle.

Such a sitaution would, it was claimed, leave him unable to sit in his garden, while people walking by would be able to look straight into his living room and bathroom."

Council planning officers have reported that, while generally lower than other retaining walls, the new one would not appear out of character or result in an unacceptable loss of privacy to the residents.

Councillors agreed, after deciding at a planning meeting last week that the matter had dragged on for too long and the time had now come for decisive action.

Cllr Steven Bashforth said: "I don’t see what we would gain by turning this application down. The council is duty-bound to reinstate the footpath on Seldon Street.

"The public is the concern. We have to do something about it as the owners have not complied with the court order.

"If we vote against this we’ll be pushing it onto the back burner again. We need to get a compromise until the legal issue is dealt with."