Residents near a wall that suddenly collapsed last year doubt it will be repaired in the timescale promised.
A 60ft section of the wall on Ellislea Road came crashing down moments after Karen Arensbach and her three-year old daughter had driven past in October.
Residents have been told the repairs are expected to start within four to six weeks.
They were told in August, when the work was originally scheduled to be complete, it would take 12 weeks to completely rebuild.
Jan Hampton, who lives nearby, says the timescale does not make sense — even if the work starts in four weeks, that would leave a little over nine weeks until the end of the year.
Mrs Hampton also noted as the autumn and winter weather comes in, the work will be likely take even longer to complete.
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She said: “An architect told my husband you can’t work on limestone when it’s wet so that will surely mean the workers will have to leave it some days.
“It’s coming up to to a year and the job is still to be done. It looks like an eyesore and it’s dangerous. We’re still worried that the rest of the wall could come down.
“We used to take that path out with our cars but don’t anymore, and use the path on to Dundee Road which is very busy and we have to edge the car out to see if there is traffic coming, so that is dangerous as well.
“My husband had been contacting the council about the wall saying it was a matter of urgency before it came down so this could have all been prevented. We could see this was coming.
“But we are quite positive that it is happening so let’s move on.”
However, not all residents are happy with the extent of the work.
Doreen Preston, who has lived nearby for three years, does not want trees to be removed, which is necessary in order to make the rebuilt wall secure.
She said: “It bothers me that they want to cut down the trees. I don’t know why they can’t build it the same way as before.
“The area is quite secluded so I wouldn’t want any more trees down.”
Councillor Craig Duncan welcomed the news, but said: “Although this had taken longer than anyone had hoped, I understand largely due to pricing issues, I would really like to thank residents for their patience and participation in site visits with me and council officers.
“Regarding the timescale, I’ve been told that the workers may have to use different materials to account for the weather, but I have it in black and white that the work will be done by the end of this year.
“What I didn’t want was it to be held off until the spring next year. I’ll be keeping an eye on how long it takes for the work to be finished.”
