Furious residents are living in fear that their gardens could sink into the ground at any moment after a nearby street suffered ‘apocalyptic’ damage due to ‘nuisance’ construction work on a huge new-build estate.
Builders preparing ground for the 300-home plot in Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire, have been branded as ‘careless’ after gaping holes opened up in gardens and driveways in nearby George Street.
Neighbours described it as ‘like an earthquake has hit’ with vibrations from diggers working in nearby Ashland Road West being blamed for causing cracks to form in the road.
One pensioner, Susan Tighe, has seen her front garden ruined and her driveway has slumped, sparking panic in the neighbourhood that other homes could suffer a similar fate.
The development is being constructed by Bellway Homes and sister company Ashberry Homes, which has investigated the ‘earth movement’ and says it was exacerbated by recent heavy rainfall.
Pictured: Gardens of Susan Tighe and her brother Peter’s homes have slumped after nearby construction works caused cracks in the ground
The front garden and drive outside 81-year-old pensioner Susan Tighe’s house in George Street was wrecked a week ago
Pictures show uneven ground near pensioner Susan Tighe’s home after residents reported ‘earthquake’-like tremors and damage
Homeowners on the edge of a huge 300-house new-build estate in Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire, fear their gardens could suffer the same fate
The companies say measures have been put in place to restrict any further movement and work is being mooted to restart ‘imminently’.
The front garden and drive outside pensioner Susan Tighe’s house in George Street was wrecked a week ago.
The 81-year-old has blasted the construction company for the havoc it has caused and is now demanding: ‘They must put right the damage they have done.’
When asked by MailOnline when they would be repairing the damage, Ashberry Homes said: ‘We have had meetings with contractors and the resident affected today and plan to return today to investigate the cause of the problem further and how best to remediate it.
‘In the meantime, we are looking to install a temporary sheet pile retaining system in areas of concern along the boundary.’
Ms Tighe said she didn’t ‘need all the extra stress’ in her twilight years and that the ‘horrendous’ new-build work is a continuing nightmare for herself and neighbours.
Pointing to huge gaping holes, sinking paving and a destroyed lawn, Ms Tighe told MailOnline: ‘I don’t want to cause a fuss but it’s like an earthquake has hit my home and it’s very alarming.’
Ms Tighe has blasted the construction company for the havoc it has caused and is now demanding: ‘They must put right the damage they have done’
Ashberry Homes said they had put temporary measures in place to restrict any further movement
Ground work by ‘noisy, dusty and nuisance’ diggers has continued, moving to another spot on the vast former farmland, and infuriating more residents
Neighbours rallied around to help the distressed resident with a local young hero, named only as Lee, raising the alarm which put a temporary stop to the works because of the ‘earth movement’.
But instead of being halted completely, ground work by ‘noisy, dusty and nuisance’ diggers has continued, moving to another spot on the vast former farmland, and infuriating more residents, with one saying: ‘The whole neighbourhood is up in arms.’
Retired factory worker Ms Tighe, who has lived alone in her detached bungalow for 65 years, described how the horror unfolded on her doorstep a week ago.
She said: ‘The work with the diggers started last Thursday and vibrations from the field in front made my house and garden tremble.
‘They were preparing the ground for the the new houses but not one should be going up in the first place in the field once farmed for crops.’
‘The noise from the pile driving and all the digging to make the foundations was terrible.’
Concerned Ms Tighe noticed a ‘crack in the ground which has been growing and growing’ and admitted: ‘It was very scary.’
She added: ‘A neighbour, a young lad Lee, took pictures of the damage and sent them to local councillors and developers on the site, who stopped working immediately on this section.
‘They have been warned many times in the past about the potential damage to the ground. They have been careless.’
The pensioner is currently helping look after her sick brother Patrick Tighe, 77, a retired lorry driver, who lives in the same street.
She said: ‘I don’t need all the extra stress with the building works. They must put right the damage they have done.
‘But I’ve not heard a word from them yet so I have no idea what’s going to happen.’
Her home at the end of the close was hit, with cracks extending along the street but so far not affecting other properties.
Residents in a nearby street, Norwood Close, higher up the hill, fear their gardens could also be wrecked as the ground works continues in another designated spot.
Retired police officer Alan Allwood told how locals couldn’t enjoy sitting in their gardens because of the ‘constant noise and mess from machinery.’
He said: ‘The whole neighbourhood is up in arms!’
The fuming 77-year-old said: ‘Work on the 300 new houses that nobody around here wants but won planning permission on appeal started in February and is set to go on for three years.
‘The noise of the machinery is horrendous, we have it every weekday from eight in the morning until tea time, and Saturday morning.
‘We are predominantly a retirement area, up to 80 per cent of us, and we spend most days at home.
‘Not only do we have to put up with the noise and dust, which stops us going in our gardens, the builders have hacked off a huge slice of the bank, and there is a 20 feet drop behind my back hedge.’
Mr Allwood said: ‘The site is permanently flooded and we are worried that our gardens will subside, land will fall away, like the poor lady’s down the road.
‘Every morning convoys of lorries laden with hard core come down the hill then back up, exceeding the speed limit.
‘There is always a bang, bang, bang as they hurtle over the speed bumps.
The aerial photo shows the area of land where the construction work is taking place by developers Ashberry Homes
Retired teacher Linda Jackson, 74, says there is constant noise, dust and vibration from the building works
An aerial photo showing the crack in the ground next to where the construction work is taking place
The construction has been stopped at the new Nottinghamshire housing estate after works caused ‘apocalyptical’ damage to the nearby street
‘Summer is coming and we should all be sitting in our gardens but you can’t hear yourself think.
‘And the worst thing is the developers and the council don’t care about the residents.
‘The neighbourhood is very concerned as it is a very serious situation and all too much for us. We just want somebody to fight our corner.’
Fellow resident Rob Lace, a retired NHS patient transport worker, told MailOnline: ‘There is noise, ground disturbance, dust – the whole awful package – and such a nuisance!
‘There is a sewer running the lengths of the houses and any moment, with the land being disrupted, it could burst and our whole street will be affected.
‘We’ve spent years protesting against this development, no one wanted it, but it is happened and before the homes have even gone up it is causing us unnecessary headaches.’
Mr Lace added: ‘I have lived here for 40 years and have established a lovely garden that I can’t even sit in now because of the noise from the site.’
Another disgruntled resident, Linda Jackson, added: ‘There’s a constant noise, dust and vibration.
‘Our windows and garden furniture are covered in dust and even the clocks on our walls are wobbling.’
Mrs Jackson, speaking to MailOnline on her 74th birthday, said: ‘People living in our street are all quite concerned with the building works going on.
‘Behind our homes they’ve dug down a 20-feet trench with no regard to the badgers, a protected species, and other wildlife.
‘We’ve raised concerns with local councillors but no one really listens.
‘Lorries are constantly coming up and down the hill which has a 30mph limit at an estimated 45mph, there are many elderly people living in the nearby bungalows.’
She told how plans for the large development had been rejected three times by the the local authority but were approved on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate.
Mrs Jackson’s garden backs onto the building site and she is worried it, too, could be damaged
Neighbours from nearby roads fear their driveways could be next after a massive chasm formed in the road near Ms Tighe’s home
Diggers are still carrying out work in another spot of the development, with other work mooted to restart soon
Alan Allwood, 77, told how locals couldn’t enjoy sitting in their gardens because of the ‘constant noise and mess from the machinery
She said: ‘Sadly the locals and the council lost. It is such a shame and the work going on now and the noise is just horrendous.’
Mrs Jackson said: ‘It was farming land, and from the back I used to see deer, foxes and pheasants and farmers rolling hay and now all I see is men in hard hats and massive diggers.
‘The ground is really boggy and we worry about subsidence.’
Neighbour John Whitehead, 70, said: ‘We are very concerned because they have dug 20 feet down at the bottom of our garden and we are extremely worried it might happen to us next.
‘They were digging last week and my wall clock was vibrating, so I’m worried it might have done damage to my house.
‘We do not want a landslide like in Mansfield a few years ago and that is the fear at the moment.’
Leader of Ashfield District Council, Jason Zadrozny, has described the holes, mounds of earth and crumpled turf as ‘apocalyptic damage’.
Councillor Zadrozny, claimed the fault partially lay with the Government’s planning officials for approving the development in December 2021 and explained an emergency meeting had been arranged over the ‘apocalyptical’ damage.
He said: ‘Ashfield Independent Councillors turned down this application on multiple occasions because we warned this would happen.
‘The Conservative government appointed Planning Inspector overturned our decision and this is the result.
‘All work has now been suspended as residents are seeing significant damage to their properties with gardens subsiding, roads and pavements collapsing and more.
‘Officers and local councillors are holding an emergency meeting with developers to discuss a way forward.
‘The massive, apocalyptical conditions caused by developers are why there needs to be a wholesale review of planning law.’
A statement from the developer said: ‘Ashberry Homes has been made aware that there was some earth movement at the western boundary of the Sutton-in-Ashfield site over the weekend.
‘Some of this movement has been identified as historic, while other parts have been identified as occurring more recently within the site boundary.
‘We have investigated the root cause of the issue and determined that heavy rain over the weekend has exacerbated this problem.
‘We have now put temporary measures in place to restrict any further movement and planned works to the area in question will be starting imminently to provide a permanent retaining structure along this boundary.’
The housing firm previously halted preparation works on the site in March after neighbours complained of being kept awake by diggers.
The former colliery site, near Sutton-in-Ashfield, overlooks stunning Brierley Forest Park – a wildlife haven popular with walkers, cyclist, horse riders and anglers and which boasts children’s play areas and cafes.