Council bid for £3m to repair wall

A £3 million bid for urgent work to stabilise a wall at a Black Country war memorial will be submitted in the new year, it was announced today.

There are fears the wall, at the junction of Church Hill and Church Street, Brierley Hill, may collapse. The work is seen as essential as it is 200 yards from the new Brierley Hill bypass.

It is estimated the stabilisation work will cost in the region of £3m and Dudley Council is hoping to receive a grant to help secure the vital funds.

The application is due to submitted to regional development agency Advantage West Midlands at the start of next year.

A report drawn up by Dudley Council underlined the need for urgent stabilisation work to the wall to take place.

It states: "The walls are founded on naturally occurring sandy clays that in turn sit on a dipping rock head.

"The main Church Street wall supports massive earth and surcharge pressures from the man-made terraced embankment comprising clinker, ash, slag and brick-based fill material.

"The walls and embankment are now in such a condition of distress that they require significant structural work to stabilise.

"Against the background of the necessary work and to retain the existing character in line with conservation demands the estimated cost of stabilisation/replacement amounts to around £3 million."

A risk assessment together with a design and cost estimate, costing £130,000 are being drawn up to clarify what needs to be done.

It is hoped Advantage West Midlands will also fund some of these costs but if not the council is expected to secure the money through the sale of potential development sites in the Brierley Hill area.

The town's new congestion busting bypass, dubbed the Parallel Route, cost £27 million.

The new road between Dudley Road and Church Street is aimed at uncorking a bottleneck in the busy High Street.