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Last weekend we received a letter from County Councillor Chris Jackson, Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport.  The letter, sent to the relevant Parish Councils and residents along the B5056, gives an update on the County Council’s position on the landslip on the B5056 at Fenny Bentley.  Today we got permission from Cllr Jackson to reproduce the letter in full, so click here to see it in pdf format.

The letter summarises the history of the landslip and indicates

the preferred option, which will provide the least risk of further road movement, is the provision of a reinforced concrete masonry faced retaining wall supported on piles extending below the slip plane.

The time-scale is

Subject to Cabinet Members approvals and the securing of funding, it is expected that the design and contract document will be completed by early to mid-October, followed by a required tender period of four weeks with tender evaluation and acceptance a further two weeks.  It is expected that it will take the successful contractor some four weeks to mobilise his operations. … … … .  Whilst it may be possible that the design, procurement and mobilisation programme could be reduced by a few days, it is unlikely that works on site will commence before the New Year.

At this time, the anticipated contract period is approximately 20 weeks, but this could well be influenced by the vagaries and uncertainties of the climate during the winter months.

This means that even if everything goes well the road will not be re-opened until around June 2010, and that there is a possibility it will stay closed longer.

The letter also refers to the repairs needed near Horsley Farm where the other ‘temporary’ lights have been.  The council is currently seeking funding for these repairs, which they hope will be undertaken during the road closure.  This seems to imply a longer time-scale than that previously reported here, but it is anticipated that single file traffic will continue here during the repairs.

The County Council plan to hold a public meeting to give us an opportunity to ask questions, and we will post details of this as soon as they are available.

Comments recently passed to the blog team include concern that this week two ambulances on emergency calls attempted to get through the B5056, but had to turn road adding extra minutes to their journey and concern about the deteriorating road surface through Tissington Ford with the increased traffic here.  Both these issues have been passed to the County Council, but continue to let us or your Parish Council or your County Councillor know your views.