The feoffees also own a block of six one bedroomed flats in Jesmond Road, Exeter, known as Bowe Court, a little further down Jesmond Road are two cottages known as Ivy Cottages of which number 1 is also owned by the feoffees. The Bowe Court flats were built in 1974/75 and 1 Ivy Cottages considerably earlier. These properties have rear boundaries which adjoin the Belmont Pleasure Ground. The ground on the side of the buildings is considerably higher than in the Belmont Pleasure Ground and the slopping bank down is planted with bushes and trees. Over the years the bank has been eroded by the run off of water but mainly due to children and others climbing on it and running up and down. In the early 1970’s, when Bowe Court was built there was a metre wide strip at the top of the bank level with the ground of Bowe Court. Over the years, that piece of land has eroded away exposing the concrete foundations of the boundary fence posts as well as the roots of some of the bushes. The council has allowed this erosion to continue over the years by not taking adequate measures to stabilise the bank. The erosion has destroyed the buttressing effect of the bank to the boundary damaging the integrity and security of the bank and as a consequence the rear path on the side of Bowe Court has suffered slippage and there are definite signs of ground movement. Currently, the path has been put ‘out of use’ to the elderly residents of Bowe Court for health and safety reasons as advised by the feoffees insurers. A verbal report from a structural engineer concluded that the bank was far to steep and that unless proper measures were taken to stabilise the bank, the foundations of the Bowe Court flats would be at risk. He recommended that a retaining wall and ground anchors should be put in place to secure the bank.
In 2012 the feoffees, requested the council to take appropriate action to stabilise the bank and a site meeting took place. As a result of this meeting the council acknowledged that the main cause of the erosion was due to access by children and others and their answer to the problem was to move the path which ran alongside the bank in the Pleasure Ground further into the park. In reality this did nothing to resolve the problem and children and others continued to use the bank. Subsequent correspondence and contact with the council failed to achieve any positive action on their part.
Prior to 2012 the feoffees commissioned an opinion of legal counsel regarding the erosion of the bank. In reply the counsel said that he was of the opinion that if the feoffees land has subsided by wrong interference with the right of support which such land has from the land of the council, a course of action has arisen. If the council allowed habitually large ebi! numbers of children to play on the slopes with the result that they were worn away as to cause the subsidence the feoffees could sue the council’. Since 2012, and to this day, the council has not taken any adequate action to prevent children and others from accessing this bank.
However in 2019 after representations were made in writing to the Chief Executive of the council, the feoffees received a letter from Mr D.Bryant, Director.who apologised for unanswered correspondence and delay. He said that funds were available for works to the bank and he was confident the matter would be resolved to all parties satisfaction.
Subsequently site meetings were held with council engineers who acknowledged. that the bank was too steep and vulnerable and in addition to works to the bank, fencing would be erected at the bottom to prevent access to it. The council engineers repeatedly acknowledged the problems with the bank in correspondence and a site meeting by the council only was followed by a letter from Director, Mr D. Taylor-Hopgood that a report from their geo-technical engineer had concluded that there was no danger to the stability of the bank and that as a result the funds available were being diverted to solve an ‘eye sore’ problem in another part of the Pleasure Ground. The council proposed to prune some bushes and trees and carry out further planting on the bank and at the bottom to dissuade access.
Despite appealing to all councillors on an individual basis, no positive response was received. The feoffees requested a copy of the geo technical engineers report obtained by the council since the council had already received a copy of the report commissioned by the feoffees. The council did not respond to the feoffees request and so a freedom of information request was made to the council. The reply was that the council ‘did not have this information’.
The feoffees are now awaiting a structural engineers report before taking further advice
The delay by. the council and their refusal to carry out adequate remedial works in an area for which they are responsible has cost the charity thousands of pounds. Since the charity is non-profit making, the loss of money has affected its ability to carry out its charitable giving to the poor and young people in support of their education and careers. and local churches to whom the charity makes regular annual grants, have also been disadvantaged.