Outrage as traditional Cotswold stone wall replaced with fence

The collapsed wall in New Road required urgent repairs to stop the road collapsing

Villagers are up in arms over a traditional dry stone wall which has been replaced with a wooden fence by highway workers.

People in and around Selsey near Stroud are outraged after a knocked down wall in New Road was replaced with a fence.

They say Gloucestershire County Council had promised to rebuild the stone wall, which needed repairs to stop the road collapsing.

The council said the wall required urgent essential repairs.

Gloucestershire Highways said replacing the stone with a wooden fence was more cost-effective

Gloucestershire Highways, who carried out the repairs, says more than £200,000 was spent on the recently completed works, and to have reinstated a wall would have doubled the cost of the project.

"It was essential Gloucestershire Highways carried out the repairs to the lower section of the wall to protect the public highway, the utility services and most importantly people's safety, before the road collapsed."

Councillor Steve Hynd has been campaigning for years for the council to rebuild the wall

Stroud district councillor Steve Hynd and resident Marisa Godfrey have written to Shire Hall's highways department to express the villagers' disappointment over the stone wall being removed with no community consultation.

Mr Hynd had been campaigning for years for the county council to rebuild the wall as the initial cracks soon developed into sections of collapsing wall, causing a risk to anyone walking, cycling or driving past it.

Earlier this summer, Gloucestershire Highways confirmed that the work would finally be carried out. But Mr Hynd said he was "horrified" to find out, only as the cement was drying under the new wooden fence, that the wall had been replaced by a fence.

Councillor Steve Hynd has concerns about Gloucestershire Highways' cost-saving measure

"As well as the aesthetic change, I worry that replacing a traditional dry stone wall with a wooden fence is just false economy," Mr Hynd said.

"Cotswold stone walls, when erected by skilled local craftspeople, can last for decades with occasional straightforward maintenance.

"This wooden fence will need replacing in a few years' time."

'An ancient craft'

Marisa Godfrey, who lives in Selsley West, said it was only when the work was nearly complete that residents realised the wall was not going to be rebuilt as promised.

"A lot of people in the village are angry and disappointed about this," she said.

"Dry stone walls are an intrinsic feature of the Cotswold landscape - an ancient craft that has been passed down through generations - and rural residents are rightly proud of the artisanship and heritage that goes into creating them."

Gloucestershire County Council has not responded to a further request for comment.

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