Ashberry Homes is building more than 300 new homes off Ashland Road West in the village of Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire.

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The developer has halted construction at the site once again after works caused “apocalyptic” damage on neighbouring George Street.

When Susan Tighe, 81, woke up on May 23 she found a chasm forming in her garden, which is close to the edge of the house builder’s development.

Over the next few days part of the pensioner’s lawn and drive had sunk into the ground, with locals fearing their homes could be impacted should the situation worsen.

Susan said: “They’ve been digging at the bank [to the back of the garden] and the vibrations have caused this all to happen.

“I could just see a crack in the ground – ever since it has been growing and growing and we can’t make it stop.

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“They have had to stop work on the section now, but they had been warned many times.”

On the damage caused to her property, she added: “It’s scary and I am not going anywhere near it, but it will have to be fixed by them so I’m not too worried.”

The homeowner explained she had been told local councillors were meeting representatives of Bellway Homes – a sister house building brand – soon to discuss the issue.

Local residents had heavily opposed the construction of new homes on the former farmland for years before any work started.

But in December 2021 a government-appointed Planning Inspector overturned Ashfield District Council‘s and allowed construction to proceed.

Residents on Norwood Close, just a few streets from Susan’s stricken garden on George Street, explained they were worried the land beneath their properties could soon also start to shift because of the development.

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.”

I could just see a crack in the ground – ever since it has been growing and growing and we can’t make it stop.

Susan Tighe

John has been fighting against Bellway’s development for more than five years.

He continued: “We’ve warned Bellway and the council but nobody seems to be interested.

“We need a site visit from everyone now to sort this out.”

John’s anxiety was echoed by his neighbour Alan Allwood, who felt the relationship between the new estate’s builders and existing residents “really could not get any worse”.

“The neighbourhood is very concerned as it is a very serious situation,” the 77-year-old said.

“They have cut into the Norwood bank near me by about 10-12 feet and because of what has happened on other streets we are now quite concerned that the bottoms of our gardens are going to fall away.

“This is predominantly a street with lots of retired people who have had to put up with dust, noise and vibrations for most of the day up to now – but this is too much.”

Calling on both Bellway and Ashfield District Council to listen to locals’ concerns and warnings, Alan added: “We just want somebody to fight our corner.”

HOME TRUTH

A NEWBUILD home has gone viral over a crucial design error.

A photograph of the new build racked up 16 million views in just a few days.

The photograph in question showed the front of the new build, in which the driveway leads up to the front door rather than the garage door.

This led some users to criticise the layout, and the thinking behind it.

One person asked: “Apart from the garage why is the kitchen floor outside?,” to which the original poster joked: “It’s a driveway for your air fryer.”

Another person said: “To be honest I don’t know anyone (in the UK, at least) who parks in their garage.

“That’s what the driveway is for. The garage is for storing things that you’re pretending that you’ll use one day.”

Councillor Jason Zadrozny, leader of Ashfield District Council, claimed the fault partially laid with the Government‘s planning officials for approving the development.

He explained an emergency meeting had been arranged over the “apocalyptic” damage.

“Ashfield Independent Councillors turned down this application on multiple occasions because we warned this would happen,” Mr Zadrozny said.

“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 this afternoon to discuss a way forward.

“The massive, apocalyptic conditions caused by developers are why there needs to be a wholesale review of planning law.”

A statement from Ashberry Homes, a sister brand to Bellway Homes, read: “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 Sun has contacted Bellway Homes and Ashfield District Council for further comment.

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