'It could genuinely kill one of us one day' - Residents show fear of living in own homes following garden landslide row
Residents of a neighbourhood in Dudley have been told 'not to enter' their own gardens after a retaining wall holding back tonnes of soil collapsed.
Locals of Goodrich Mews, in Upper Gornal, Dudley, have shown fear of entering their own gardens after a retaining wall at the bottom of their addresses collapsed.
The retaining wall, which is said to have first collapsed in 2016, holds back tonnes of soil and debris from a small hill between Goodrich Mews, Dormston Trading Estate and Ripley Grove.
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However, after being initially repaired following its 2016 collapse, residents were shocked to find that the structure again collapsed within only a few years, spreading tonnes of soil onto their gardens.
The second collapse quickly launched the residents into a dispute with Dudley Council, Taylor Whimpey and Exclusive Property Management (EPM), over who is responsible for repairing the wall; however, those living near the landslide say the responsibility has been 'passed from group to group'.
Now, residents have said that they fear for their safety after being told to 'not enter their gardens', with many saying that one day 'the wall will completely fall' and potentially 'kill one of us'.
One resident, whose garden backs onto the small hill, said she didn't want to be named in the case of repercussions for talking to the media; however, she said that she 'fears for her life daily'.
She said: "When it started to collapse, we were told not to go into our gardens at all. That's been a good few years now, since 2016.
"It's horrible, not being able to go into your own garden. Every time you hear the rumbling from the wall outside, you genuinely fear for your life. It's so dangerous. It could genuinely kill one of us one day.
