Park fencing to be replaced following landslide

The council said it was having daily issues with current temporary fencing being damaged or knocked over

New fencing is to be installed in front of a cliff face at a Nottinghamshire park for safety reasons following a landslide.

Mansfield District Council said the landslide took place at the Third Field, in Forest Road Park - known locally as Spider Park - in spring 2021, followed by another in December 2023 and smaller slips had taken place in recent months.

The authority said it was installing a stronger temporary fence this week after damage to the current one.

It will be removed once work to stabilise the cliff face has taken place. The council is not sure when this will be but hopes it will be early next year.

The authority said: "We kindly ask that visitors, including dog walkers, avoid trying to access this area for everyone's safety."

'Understand frustration'

Julie Snowdon, public space manager for the council, said after the original landslide, security fencing was placed in front of the cliff face at the advice of engineering consultants.

"However, late last year there was another landslip which took about 10 of the temporary fence panels down," she said.

"At that point, we realised we needed to do something more so we altered the fencing. But we are having daily issues with the fencing being damaged or knocked over as it is only temporary."

She said more robust fencing from another site had become available, which they will use instead until stabilisation work can take place.

"There has been two or three smaller landslips in the last few weeks so it is really important that we keep that site safe for anybody using it and to prevent access to the cliff face until we manage to carry out the works," she said.

She added the contractor Fairhurst had done another survey and was coming up with a plan to stabilise the land, with the council pushing for the work to be done as early as possible next year.

Ms Snowdon said: "I understand people are frustrated that part of it is closed off but we want people to be safe while the work is done, but we have to get the works right."