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Northumberland Rd Hole in ground

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I passed the site on Thursday 23 August and the worker at the entrance was having a hard task answering the questions of passers-by, because all he knew was that his firm had a contract to clear the site, and he knew nothing more. That site has been an amazing example of how rapidly nature can take over completely.

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I've been off work for a week and walked past there this morning - wow, what a transformation! I wonder if they're actually going to do anything with the hole this time though...

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Rumour has it that the site was cleared due to a rat infestation!

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Does anyone know anything about the history of this land and who owns it? I heard something about it being a glass factory once. I've no idea why there's such a massive hole there now though. I've also heard that the hole has caused subsistence problems for nearby houses.

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Not a glass factory: Laboratories: The British Glass Industry Research Association. The labs moved to Chapeltown some years ago.

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Does anyone know anything about the history of this land and who owns it? I heard something about it being a glass factory once. I've no idea why there's such a massive hole there now though. I've also heard that the hole has caused subsistence problems for nearby houses.

 

 

Merlin Estates dug the 'ole but then went bust before they actually built anything. The hole was for car parking for a new block of flats.

 

 

 

I am not sure, but I think 'Prince' Naseem sold it to Merlin and then bought it back after the bankruptcy. I have seen him looking into it on a couple of occasions in the last few years.

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Not a glass factory: Laboratories: The British Glass Industry Research Association. The labs moved to Chapeltown some years ago.

 

BGIRA, had quite a short life, it was built around 1970, the site was chosen because University glass technology dept. was next door.

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The council issued an order to clear above ground ie trees and vegetation on safety grounds responding to a complaint by a member of the public. No advance notice was given to ward councillors or local people - this is the big local issue for the well informed Harcourt Community Action community group. So lots of of people, including myself (supporting Green ward councillors), wasted a lot of time finding out what was going in and whether it was legal. A lot of council officer time was needed that could have been avoided just by informing relevant people.

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Guest makapaka
The council issued an order to clear above ground ie trees and vegetation on safety grounds responding to a complaint by a member of the public. No advance notice was given to ward councillors or local people - this is the big local issue for the well informed Harcourt Community Action community group. So lots of of people, including myself (supporting Green ward councillors), wasted a lot of time finding out what was going in and whether it was legal. A lot of council officer time was needed that could have been avoided just by informing relevant people.

 

You could have just minded your own business.

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The council issued an order to clear above ground ie trees and vegetation on safety grounds responding to a complaint by a member of the public. No advance notice was given to ward councillors or local people - this is the big local issue for the well informed Harcourt Community Action community group. So lots of of people, including myself (supporting Green ward councillors), wasted a lot of time finding out what was going in and whether it was legal. A lot of council officer time was needed that could have been avoided just by informing relevant people.

 

 

That will be the rat infestation complaint, I guess.

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The vegetation has now been largely cleared from this site. There was a police car standing by, so it is still not clear if the clearance is commercial or is a search for evidence.

 

Edit: Gossip has it that the police activity was for the removal of a rough sleeper form the site before clearance.

 

I have not found any new planning applications for the site, so it is unclear what is happening at this site now.

 

I used to see the rough sleeper regularly because I use the sports centre. He was in a terrible state and slept in the open sided area under the swimming pool. As I never saw him beg or approach the public, it appeared as though nobody else seemed to notice him.

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The remaining vegetation has now been stripped away - mainly the small trees on the Northumberland Road side. The shoddy pilings that support the Harcourt Road side of the hole are now visible again. I imagine that whoever owns the hole is going to have to spend some money to do a proper job here.

 

---------- Post added 23-09-2018 at 14:23 ----------

 

I have seen an increase in the numbers of birds in my garden over the last few days. I am not sure how many have been displaced from the hole now that the vegetation has gone, but this could easily be several hundred birds of various species. We don't live far from Northumberland Road, so there may be a link.

 

 

Has anyone else noticed an increase? It could just be the onset of autumn, of course, but with the weather so mild I would be a bit surprised if birds were already migrating in from rural areas. We will have to get the bird feeders loaded up in the winter!

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