The occupants of a property in Ventnor have been evacuated with fears that Belgrave Road could collapse within hours.
Earlier this week a small landslide occurred between Belgrave Road and Esplanade Road, overlooking the seafront. This resulted in cracks appearing in the road and subsequently a traffic closure was put in place.
Now, the carriageway has dropped significantly – around a metre – and some debris has crashed down onto the road below. It is feared the wall and road could give way at any moment, potentially causing injury to human life or damage to nearby properties.
Fencing has been erected on Esplanade Road to keep pedestrians and traffic out of the danger zone and Island Roads are now keeping a constant eye on the situation from above with a crew on site around the clock.
The situation has attracted crowds of people over the past few days with many commenting on how quickly the road is failing.
Belgrave Road is expected to remain closed to motorists for months, if not years, although it remains open to pedestrians at this moment in time.
In a statement issued this afternoon, Island Roads has said:
“In response to both continued movement of the wall and because people have entered the site over the weekend, we are today reinforcing the road closure by erecting steel fencing. This measure will also offer properties below some additional protection from falling debris.
“Island Roads staff remain on site to monitor developments. With the Isle of Wight Council, we will take whatever measures are necessary in the interests of public safety as the wall remains in danger of further collapse.
“As part of this safety-first approach, we have advised the council to make arrangements for the evacuation of an occupied property that could be affected.
“In the interest of safety, we would ask members of the public to respect the road closure in place.
“We will continue to keep the community informed of developments.
UPDATE @ 21:25 – Belgrave Road has now been closed to pedestrians, indicating that the situation has deteriorated this evening.
I feel sorry for the owners of the house below clearly for sale its value has evaporated .
Leaving potholes unrepaired is not helping the problem of subsidance on the island , water going into holes in the road surface washing away whats underneath instead onf running off down the drains . Fix the roads and you will fix alot of the problem ! Funny how our cars have to be fit for use on the roads but the bloody roads don’t seem to have to be fit for our cars !
I bet a tenner it’ll collapse harder than the Euro once we leave at the end of the month!
Anyone know how much that house for sale is going for?
A Burton by the looks of it
It has no been closed to pedestrians
It is now closed to pedestrians
Worrying for all the houses along that area. Especially for those that have their property up for sale.
Coo, I bet that house for sale’s owners wish the had put it up earlier. Cash buyers only now, and then your street address may change overnight.
Not funny though, and shame they could not use gabion walling, using rocks from the beach to build a huge retaining wall, and back fill the void with stone.
Still, easier and cheaper, just to close it, as they do footpaths now.
Wow he’s an expert on this as well,with all your knowledge you could change the world
Don’t need to be a weather man to know which way the wind blows, Bob.
Apart from when removing rocks from the beach leads to more erosion there!!!
It is not a landslide, it is a collapse of a very old retaining wall exactly the same as Southgrove Road a few years ago.
Exactly Joe, just build up a gabion wall, plenty of rock in the area. Thus drains water through, holds back the land by bulk, and a double layer would ensure no movement. Cheap way of curing the issue. Simple.
I wonder how long it will take the council to rebuild the retaining wall and reopen the roads? If it is anything like Southgrove Road, it will be 2 or 3 years.
The council are so slow at addressing these problems that it will probably cost millions rather than thousands to repair. They say it was blocked drains that caused the problem.
Residents have continuously asked the council to unblock them.
It was a bit of a coincidence how they were flushing the drains out Saturday when it was all too late.
Jb, remover the ‘or’ and it will be ‘nearer’ the mark