Neighbours are left in a fix as sinkhole trouble deepens
MACCLESFIELD’S sinkhole saga continues to deepen with council workers spending a month at the site and then leaving it larger than ever.
A hole opened up on Hobson Street at the beginning of February and it is linked by an underground culvert to another on nearby Ryle Street that appeared two years ago.
Residents on Hobson Street have complained to Cheshire East Council that the problem needs fixing and thought this was finally happening when workmen spent most of May on site.
But Ally Burrows, 51, who lives next to the site says the team decided they were unable to fix the hole and left it larger than ever. She is trying to sell her house as the Covid pandemic has cut her income from candle making and music tuition businesses but says the saga is making that impossible.
Ally said: “I would like to know how much tax-payers money has been wasted on this, it’s something that should concern everyone in Macclesfield.
“It has been backwards and forwards for months and this latest time they came, made it bigger then stopped and decided it couldn’t be fixed.
“There’s open sewage and it’s starting to really honk, you can smell it inside with the windows and doors shut. It’s a nightmare.”
There are complications at the site such as a nearby gas mains pipe.
The sinkhole on Ryle Street affects a private property so its residents have moved out and protracted legal negotiations between the council and an insurance company need resolving before work can be done.
Other residents say if no one is living there anymore the simple solution is to put a compulsory purchase order on the house.
Both holes have been caused by a collapsed culvert and the council says Hobson
Street’s cannot be fixed until Ryle Street’s has.
But those living nearby say it has not been explained why this is the case. In the meantime United Utilities visits twice a day to empty the sewage build up. United Utilities also must also carry out repair work to solve the problem at the site but cannot do so until the council has done its part.
A Cheshire East Council spokesperson said: “This is a complex project involving a damaged culvert, a main sewer and a gas main and the council is working in partnership with United Utilities and Cadent Gas to continue the investigations and repair the carriageway. We understand this has been a disruptive period for residents and users of Hobson Street and Ryle Street but we would like to assure the public that we are working extremely hard to reach a safe and satisfactory resolution to what is a challenging issue.
“Some shoring up of the carriageway has been carried out and a new manhole chamber needs to be installed in Ryle Street, where the initial collapse appeared.
“The council is liaising with property owners to ensure that a second phase of works can proceed in line with all the necessary safety requirements we will need to have in place. The safety of our workforce and members of the public remains our main priority and we continue to comply with government Covid-19 guidelines. We would like to thank residents for their continued patience while these issues are resolved prior to works being completed.”