A massive landslip has resulted in new build homes on a ‘nightmare’ Cradley Heath estate being ‘cut off’. Those living in the affected properties were now unable to reach their own driveways by car.
The ground above homes in Haden Cross Drive began to slip in March last year, when a wall gave way. Despite sandbags being propped up, recent bad weather has resulted in tons of earth sliding down, and a massive mound now completely blocks the road to the cul-de-sac.
Around a dozen homeowners have now been effectively ‘cut off’ as they were unable to drive their cars up to, or away, from their homes. The residents said they had to park up and traipse up to 100 metres through their neighbours’ gardens to get home.
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The problem has been made worse by a lack of street lighting on the almost five-year-old estate – privately owned by Dunedin Homes – as despite being installed, it has yet to be switched on. The frustrated residents were now worried about their properties, which cost up to £400,000, as they claim no one has taken responsibility for the landslip.
Those living in High Haden Crescent, which was less than half a mile away, feared they could lose their homes after their gardens were slowly destroyed by a giant landslide. Engineer Reece Aleksander, said living on the estate was a “nightmare.”
Reece Aleksander has lived on the estate for 4 years
(Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS)
His drive, which was near the biggest slip, had been blocked since March. He said larger slips in October made the road totally cut off, an issue made worse by more landslides in December. Reece said: “Since March when the wall first broke we’ve not been able to use our driveway and I’m certainly starting to get worried about it creeping further to where our garden is – it could end up breaking our garden wall and coming into our kitchen.
“We’ve got a one-year-old so not being able to use the drive has been a bit of a nightmare. Now that it’s come down fully, the parking situation has got a lot worse. The road has been blocked since October and it’s slowly made its way across the road and the path.”
He continued: “There are 12 houses up past the landslide that can’t park near their house and have to park further away. I think we’re one of the lucky ones and as it’s only coming onto our drive we are lucky we can park outside our house on the street but every time we walk out the front door there’s a big pile of mud which isn’t great to look at.
“For the 12 houses that are completely blocked off – those residents have to walk across people’s front gardens to get to their houses. Even when we’ve had photographers here there have been little bits falling down.”
Although the estate was privately owned, Reece wanted Sandwell Council needs to step in. However he said: “The council isn’t interested because it’s a private road, but then what do we pay council tax for? I think a steeper incline in the road to reduce the angle of the slope should have been done.
“The road and the land that has come down is owned by the developers and the wall that was there before was built by another company. No one is accepting responsibility.”
Fellow resident, Rachael Howard, 34, said the lack of street lighting made the problem much worse. The firefighter added: “I’m not in one of the 12 houses that can’t get access at the moment but we’re letting one of the neighbours use part of our driveway and other people are parking outside of the house all the time.
“It’s a nightmare, especially with the lack of street lighting. It’s awful for residents – I’m looking straight at it and I just see it progressively getting worse. Over Christmas with all those storms we had and seeing people carrying newborns and small children past it – it’s dangerous.
“It’s getting worse and worse that now it’s on the pavements. Are the pavements going to have to be closed? I think they should be, even today bits are just falling down all the time. The temporary measure with the sandbags was exactly that, temporary, as that’s now given way.”
Rachael Howard has lived on the estate for 3.5 years
(Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS)
Rachael felt the situation has been left for “far too long” to establish responsibility, adding: “The developers paid someone else to build the wall around it before it broke so it’s been left and left for far too long to establish who’s responsible.”
Speaking to the BBC, Dunedin Homes said it understood “as the landowner that it is our responsibility, pending legal actions, to make safe the slope”. It said work began in December, but was suspended when tips closed for Christmas.
The statement said the issue was first reported in March 2024 and continued: “Since then we have been working closely with those who completed the original design for the slope’s stability, and installed a wall to try to understand the cause of the slippage.
“Dunedin Haden Cross do not accept any liability for the slope failure and in the matter of costs and liability the insurers and loss adjusters have been notified and our solicitors are closely monitoring all correspondence.”
Sandwell Council said it “completely” understood the concerns of residents and was in “ongoing contact with the developer”. A spokesperson for the local authority said: “Even though the land is not owned by the council we have, however, been in ongoing contact with the developer to check what action the management company responsible for maintenance and repair is taking to rectify the problem.”