Newburn landslide

A date has been set to demolish a block of flats badly damaged in recent floods.

Dunelm Homes says it now has the go ahead to dismantle Spencer Court in Newcastle.

The work is scheduled to begin next Tuesday and is expected to take at least two weeks.

Work to dismantle the building in Newcastle which was left on the brink of collapse when a culvert collapsed in heavy rain is due to start on Tuesday 23 October.

Insurers have given the go ahead to start demolition work the at Spencer Court in Newburn, which is expected to take two weeks.

Geoff Woodcock from the builder of the flats, Dunelm Homes describes how they are using large rocks to stabilise the site, prevent more erosion, and provide a firm platform for equipment to demolish Spencer Court.

The decision to demolish Spencer Court was taken after the foundation of the flats was washed away following a landslide during the major flooding on September 25th.

A culvert which runs under the land collapsed earlier in the year. Engineers believe that this, together with the heavy rain, caused the landside which left so many residents homeless.

Newcastle City Council have dismissed as "pure speculation" rumours that more blocks of flats will have to be demolished at Newburn near Newcastle.

Spencer Court, the block of flats which had its foundations washed away by a landslide on September 25th, is due to be demolished next week.

Fifty other homes had to be evacuated as a safety precaution, and there have been fears that they too would have to be pulled down. But the council said today that there are no plans yet to demolish two blocks which it owns - Hareside Walk and Hareside Close. There are 18 flats in the two blocks.

A block of flats on the verge of collapse after flooding will bedemolished next week.Developers, Dunelm Homes, will co-ordinate the demolition at SpencerCourt, in Newburn.

It says what happened was not the company's responsibility, but it hasbeen offering legal and insurance advice to families affected atSpencer Court and neighbouring Mill Vale. Hundreds of tonnes of stonewill be used to fill a hole created by flood-water so that demolitionmachinery can operate on it.

Dunelm homes said it had full planning and technical approval for the whole of the Newburn flats site. The company said an agreement was signed in 2008 that committed Newcastle City Council to adopt the roads and the culvert which flooded, subject to construction standards being met.

It said the roads and culvert were due to be adopted subject to final inspections by the Council in summer 2012. But Dunelm said the process had been suspended and responsibility for both the roads and culvert at Spencer Court and Millvale remain in its hands.

Dunelm Homes will make goodwill payments to Newburn flat residents out of pocket when they were evacuated following last week's flooding in Newcastle. Claimants will have to fill out a form.

More residents in Newburn are being advised to leave their homes today as more rain is expected tomorrow.

People living in Mill Vale in Newburn, are advised to leave following concerns that rain forecast for Sunday could cause further flooding.

Earlier this week all remaining residents in Spencer Court, Newburn, were evacuated after persistent heavy rain caused the estate to flood - severely eroding the foundations of one of the five blocks of flats.

A statement by Newcastle City Council said "A second dene behind Mill Vale homes which has debris from an earlier flooding event could fill very quickly with water if a culvert becomes blocked, and so the decision to evacuate was taken by the emergency services and Newcastle City Council"

• 51 homes are affected by the evacuation.
• The City Council has set up a rest centre for residents at Newburn Activity Centre.
• A free temporary bus service for residents is being provided by Nexus until normal services are resumed.