'They are really worried': Collapsing brook wall sparks community traffic fears
Delays in dealing with a collapsing brook wall could lead to a bigger and more expensive problem, according to a councillor.
The issue with Brockton Brook, in Brockton, near the Shropshire/Powys border, has seen a large section of the brook wall falling away.
Councillor Heather Kidd, who represents Chirbury and Worthen, said she had first alerted Shropshire Council to the issue on Saturday, December 23.
Since it was reported there has been heavy rainfall and flooding – worsening the problem, but also making it impossible to start any repair.
Shropshire Council has said that an 'urgent inspection' will take place once the flood waters go down.
But Councillor Kidd said she was frustrated at the delays in coming to assess the issue, and potentially start work.
She said that a failure to act on the problem could lead to the road becoming damaged or the nearby bridge becoming blocked with debris.
She said: "My residents are really concerned that all the soil and debris and stones from the wall will be washed down and block the main road.
"They are really worried that road will have to be shut, and there are several houses up there. That would mean the traffic would have to come through Brockton Meadow, which is not designed for it and should never have been a through-road."
Councillor Kidd said she had first raised the issue on the Saturday before Christmas, then again on the Wednesday after Boxing Day – before an engineer came to look at the situation on the Thursday.
She said: "We are getting on for 10 days since this happened. This will cost a lot of money unless they do something about it."
She added: "If the road goes then it is going to be expensive."
A spokesman for Shropshire Council said: "Shropshire Council’s bridges team will arrange for an urgent special inspection of the Brockton Brook Training Wall to be carried out once the flood waters recede."
