Town council hopes to ‘draw line in the sand’ over collapsed 13th century wall

Councillors hope to ‘draw a line in the sand’ over the issue of liability for a collapsed section of Ludlow’s 13th century castle wall.

Councillors meeting at Ludlow Town Council  said they wanted to play a part in a partnership but did not accept any “historical, current, or future liability.”

Town mayor Councillor Beverley Waite (Clee View Ward) proposed a statement after getting agreement to suspend standing orders.

The item was on the agenda as one where councillors were recommended to “note the communication between Ludlow Town Council and Ludlow
Town Walls Trust” and copied emails between the two bodies.

The mayor’s motion was not published with the agenda and Councillor Waite proposed suspending council standing orders because she “would like a discussion.”

Councillor Glenn Ginger (Corve Ward) seconded and the council voted to agree to suspend standing orders.

Councillors were told that the current position of the council, following an extraordinary meeting in February, is to take a full and active part in joining the partnership on a no liability basis with the stated aim of pursuing external grant funding for repairing and reinforcing the collapsed section of Ludlow Town Wall.

The section of the wall in question collapsed more than a decade ago and the issue of who pays for its repair has been rumbling on ever since.

The Mayor’s newly proposed motion was that “Ludlow Town Council is not responsible for the collapse of the town wall adjacent to St Laurence’s Church Yard.

“With due consideration to legal advice Ludlow Town Council accepts no historical, current, or future liability for either the repair, upkeep or maintenance of the church yard wall.”

Councillor Stuart Waite (Hayton Ward), said: “I think that has always been the position of the council but I don’t think we have been very good at articulating it

“I think this statement draws a line in the sand so everybody knows.”

Councillor Darren Childs (Gallows Bank Ward) asked for the resolution in writing and queried why it was not on the agenda.

The mayor confirmed that is why standing orders were suspended. A copy of the resolution was given to Councillor Childs and returned to the Mayor. No other councillors asked for the resolution to be printed off.

No other councillors spoke and the mayor called for a named vote where Councillor Childs was the only member to vote against.

After the meeting Councillor Childs said he thought that the statement was rushed through before the election.

Councillor Childs said: “The proposal was not on the agenda before the meeting, that’s why the mayor suspended standing orders.

“I think they did it this way to rush something through before the elections.

“There was no copy of any legal advice provided, nor a copy of the proposal provided.

“Legal advice to the council has changed in the past, so I am happy to stand by my vote and be recorded as voting against this resolution as I did not have all the information needed to make an informed decision.”