Ludlow wall collapse report released

A key document that has been at the centre of a dispute about how a collapsed wall next to a church can be maintained has been shared with interested parties.

Despite the collapse happening in 2012, only temporary measures have been used to prop up the wall by St Laurence’s Church in Ludlow.

The situation has got so bad that the Parochial Church Council (PCC) is threatening legel action if Ludlow Town Council does not take action.

The authority appointed structural engineers, the Morton Partnership, in 2017 to seek tenders for the repair work.  The report was finally delivered to the council in late 2021. However, the PCC, and other interested parties were told that they would only be shown the full report if they signed a non-disclosure agreement.

The town council was accused of not being transparent, with Robert Owen, from the PCC, asking what was holding them back when the issue was discussed at a town council meeting.

The council has now said it has “reconsidered its position” about releasing the report.

“The council had proposed disclosing the report to the various other organisations directly engaged in discussions regarding the repair of the town wall but wished to do so on a confidential basis,” said a town council spokesperson.

“The council suggested that the parties achieved this via non-disclosure agreements, as it was concerned that the technical nature of the report is such that there is potential for it to be misinterpreted and misconstrued if released into the public domain without further discussion between those involved.

“The council has also become aware of a significant amount of misinformation and speculation regarding the council’s handling of the report.

“In these circumstances, the council decided to reconsider its position and unanimously decided at a meeting on Monday, 16 December 2024 to release the report to Shropshire Council, the PCC of St Laurence’s, the Town Walls Trust and Historic England and this has been actioned.”

The PCC said it would not comment about the update at this stage.