Park wall fixed despite £70,000 cost outcry
A £70,000 project to replace part of an historic wall has been completed, despite criticism of the “ridiculous” cost.
Sections of the walls in Stevens Park in Wollescote collapsed in 2015 and again in January 2018.
The brickwork encloses the garden at the Grade II-listed Wollescote Hall, a building dating back to the 16th century bequeathed to the people of the local area by the Ernest Stevens family in 1930.
A gift of £50,000 towards the cost of the first phase of the wall restoration – repairing last year’s collapse – was given by the Enovert Community Trust, an environmental body which supports community projects, while the rest was provided by the Ernest Stevens Trust.
Work on another part of the wall, where the mortar is decaying and has also been damaged by wind, will form part of the second phase of the works.
It is expected to be completed next year, with the £90,000 cost being funded by the Ernest Stevens Trust.
The cost of the work was slammed earlier this year by former Dudley Council leader David Sparks who branded it “a ridiculous waste of money” after the council was asked to pay £70,000 towards the bill.
Conservation regulations required handmade bricks and specialised lime mortar to be used in the rebuild. The former councillor argued that more modern, cheaper methods should have been used.
Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for environmental, highways and street services, said it was hoped the restoration would deter vandals from causing further damage.
She said: “We were having really big problems with anti-social behaviour and vandalism on the site last summer as a result of the wall being in the state that it was in.
“Thousands of heritage bricks were used for the restoration scheme and the wall was built using traditional lime mortar.
“The park has deep meaning to people in the area and it may seem to be just a wall but to those people it means a lot more than that.”
She praised the quality of the work by Netherton firm CE Bunch.
Angela Haymonds, secretary at Enovert Community Trust, said the project had “dramatically improved” the appearance of the park.
