WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter
Not Council’s Responsibility
Dear HIP
Your article in HIP 263 A Landslide for Local Democracy? about the Old Roar Gill makes no sense. If, as you say, the land on which the affected buildings are standing doesn’t belong to Hastings Borough Council (HBC), and the footpath belongs to East Sussex County Council (ESCC) then HBC isn’t responsible for the damage. The developer who built the houses is responsible, because it was his land and he should have done the stress tests on it. Since there are several streams that discharge into Alexandra Park, that is a mandatory precaution.
If the surveyors from the insurance companies have concluded that the developer is responsible because the foundations were not good enough for the terrain, then it will be the developer who needs to repair, and to compensate the owners for the landslides. The footpath is ESCC’s responsibility, not HBC’s. But a footpath itself can’t be responsible for a landslide as it is only for walkers – unless residents were using any kind of heavy vehicles on the footpath. I am sure the residents are very upset, but I don’t see why the taxpayer in Hastings is expected to compensate anyone since this is a development on private land.
It is the developer’s insurance that needs to address this issue, and the insurers of individual owners. If the developer isn’t insured or hasn’t made the requisite land survey or hasn’t erected the proper foundations for the type of soil, they are responsible. Normally all owners are insured too. I feel for them, but it is the personal responsibility of everyone to do proper surveys before buying a property.
T Gillham
Letter
Old Roar Gill Water overload
Whilst I fully understand the Hastings Borough Council decision of a straightforward 50/50 split on the proposed investigative costs in this matter, this only identifies the land ownership rather than the causes of the slippages. Having observed the water running through the ghyll and the attendant development around and above it for over 30 years, it is clear there has been a lack of maintenance within the ghyll itself in order to ensure good water flow.
What has not so far been mentioned in determining responsibility is the huge increase in water load into the stream. There has been continued small-scale infill along Old Roar Road itself which has no drainage – in heavy rain large amounts of water can be seen issuing over the road edge into the ghyll. There is also the much larger development to the north in the Little Ridge area and the Conquest Hospital. This was added over many years without considering what the effects might be on the sides of the ghyll at a steep narrow section.
Culpability in this sorry tale must therefore also lie with the owners of Old Roar Road and with Southern Water, who added substantial flow into the stream as an easy and low-cost solution rather than doing the thorough engineering job that was needed.
Ken Davis
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