‘Will the council now get off its backside?’
FRUSTRATION is growing over the collapse of a roadside wall in the Holme Valley that has not been repaired more than two months after it gave way, taking a tree with it.
The stretch of wall on narrow Kirk Bridge Lane, at New Mill near Holmfirth, which runs parallel to part of the A616 Huddersfield Road, fell into New Mill Dike.
Part of the road itself has also disappeared, with the tree coming to rest in the stream. Now questions are being asked over who will take responsibility for repairing the damage.
The matter has been raised by Clr Donald Firth (Con, Holme Valley South), who has campaigned for several walls in the ward to be rebuilt by Kirklees Council. The locations include South Lane in Holmfirth, where huge stones have tumbled onto land owned by a local joiner. The collapse has been blamed on rising levels of heavy traffic.
Across the valley on Burnlee Road a collapse caused the closure of the route. Kirklees Council says both walls are privately owned and so their repair and maintenance is the responsibility of landowners.
Clr Firth said the tree from Kirk Bridge Lane has not been cleared from the dike, which remains partially blocked.
He said: “It is like a nightmare. Will it never end? Will the council now get off their backside and attempt to make good all these longawaited problems? Burnlee Road has been blocked for 16 months.”
Kirklees Council was approached to comment.
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