Church leaders threaten legal action over collapsed Ludlow town wall that could be putting historic building at risk

A heated Ludlow Residents Group meeting last week heard that legal proceedings have started to hold a judicial review into the council’s handling of a wall collapse next to St Laurence’s Church, which happened 12 years ago.

According to Ludlow Town Walls Trust (LTWT), temporary measures to prop up the wall are failing, and the parochial church council (PCC) have claimed that it is putting the church at risk.

A letter from the solicitors of the Parochial Church Council (PCC), which has been publically shared, says that Ludlow Town Council (LTC) appointed structural engineers, the Morton Partnership, in 2017 to write a report to seek tenders for the repair work .

The report was finally delivered to the council in late 2021. However, Nick Parker, from Norris & Miles Solicitors, said that the council has not shared details of the report to the PCC, or other bodies such as Shropshire Council and the LTWT despite saying it would.

“We understand that the full Morton Report has not been shared other than with a small group of councillors on a ‘need to know’ basis,” said Mr Parker, in a letter to LTC clerk, Gina Wilding.

“We further understand that on October 28, 2024, there was a vote on a closed motion to allow a condensed version of the Morton Report to be shown/shared with a selected group (PCC, SC and LTWT) but only if they agreed to sign a four-year non-disclosure agreement.

“We can advise you that, for obvious reasons, such a condition is not acceptable to our clients and this reluctance by LTC to share the report does not assist in helping us get the repairs done or moving matters forward.”

Mr Parker added that a complaint will also be filed to the Local Government Ombudsman for maladminstration. The solicitors have given the town council 21 days to respond from the date of the letter (November 22).

After hearing the news, 133 (93 per cent) people have said they have no faith in the leadership of the town council in a poll conducted by Ludlow Residents Group, with only nine people (7 per cent) saying they do.

The town council has been approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of writing.

“The author of the Morton Report said it’s in the public interest that this information is shared,” said Colin Richards, the chair of LTWT.

“Because of the engineering issues, we need to understand the specifications and what the costs are goinfg to be. That is not being shared with the partners or the incredible resource we have in the community – specialists and people who want to help.

“We’re not saying to the town council – you’re in this on your own. We have a very good track record in Ludlow in addressing major heritage issues. But the point has come that we cannot afford the risk to St Laurence’s and further collapses – let’s try and grasp the nettle now and look at how we can deal with the situation so that the risk is not ongoing, and address the repair.”

A full council meeting is to be held this Monday (December 9) when the issue is set to be discussed.