A homeowner has blasted builders after she claims their clearance work caused a landslide and left her hilltop garden teetering on the edge of a sheer drop.
Charlotte Winfield, 38, says her home in Southampton has suffered subsidence due to building work on a neighbouring plot which has caused her garden to collapse into the plot of land below.
Ms Winfield says the removal of the bank of earth has ‘turned a hill into a cliff.’ She now fears there is potential damage to her three-bedroom house.
She said: ‘A bank of earth that was supporting my garden disappeared.
‘The wooden fence along the edge of the garden started bowing and part of it collapsed towards the end of last year.
Charlotte Winfield (pictured), 38, says her home in Southampton has suffered subsidence due to building work on a neighbouring plot which has caused her garden to collapse into the plot of land below
Ms Winfield says the removal of the bank of earth has ‘turned a hill into a cliff.’ She said: ‘A bank of earth that was supporting my garden disappeared. ‘The wooden fence along the edge of the garden started bowing and part of it collapsed towards the end of last year’
Ms Winfield now fears there is potential damage to her three-bedroom house as well as to her garden. She said: ‘If the subsidence gets any worse it could eventually pose a threat to the house. There’s no immediate risk, but the potential is there’
‘The rest of it is only being held up by the remains of a tree root. If that wasn’t there the whole lot would have gone.
‘If the subsidence gets any worse it could eventually pose a threat to the house. There’s no immediate risk, but the potential is there.’
Ms Winfield now wants the landowner to build a retaining wall to prevent any further landslides.
She said: ‘I think the city council needs to acknowledge what’s happening and use its powers. At the moment I feel let down.’
Ms Winfield local MP Royston Smith said: ‘The damage to Ms Winfield’s garden is very concerning and it’s understandable why she wishes to get this sorted before it gets any worse.
‘The council are right to be careful to limit their involvement with issues between private properties.
‘However, I feel they are sometimes too quick to decide they are unable to help. This is one such situation.
‘I think the council should review the case and offer assistance to both Ms Winfield and the owner of the vacant plot.’
Ms Winfield said: said: ‘I think the city council needs to acknowledge what’s happening and use its powers. At the moment I feel let down’
The clearance work which caused Ms Winfield’s garden to collapse. Southampton councillor Eamonn Keogh said: ‘As I understand the situation, the council does not have the power to force the landowner to fix the problem and protect Charlotte’s property from further damage’
But Southampton councillor Eamonn Keogh said: ‘As I understand the situation, the council does not have the power to force the landowner to fix the problem and protect Charlotte’s property from further damage.
‘I’d like to see councils given greater powers where a developer causes harm to a neighbouring property prior to the construction process.’
A council spokesperson added: ‘Works have been undertaken by the landowner to clear vegetation from the site to maintain its appearance, which does not require consent.
‘The planning permission does include the requirement for a retaining wall on the boundary, and this must be implemented if the development is to go ahead.’