A COUPLE is seeking urgent talks with developers after a dry-stone wall which holds back moorland came crashing down little more than 24 hours after builders started 'piling' work for a new development nearby.
Roy Housley said his home in Moorbottom Lane, Bingley, was left "shaking" when piling work to provide the footings for a new care home on the old Bingley Hospital site started on Friday.
He and his wife, Gael, were so alarmed they contacted developers to try to make them aware of the effect of the work, but received no reply.
Then on Saturday night part of a dry-stone wall at the bottom of the garden came crashing down, sending large stones tumbling towards their home and raising fears that without a barrier, soil from the moorland beyond may also start to spill into the garden.
A fence within the garden prevented stones from the wall from hitting the house, but some came to a rest within around two metres of a patio window, said Mr Housley.
"When the piling started the whole house was shaking, there were pots and pans rattling in the cupboards," he said.
"It was ridiculous so we phoned the developers.
"We were worried the whole moor would come down, not realising something would happen quite so soon.
"The dry-stone wall holds the moor back and half of that has come crashing down onto the grass where my 12-year-old son practices cricket. God knows what would have happened if he'd been out there at the time," he said.
The new six storey care home is going on the site of a former two storey building on the old hospital site.
Mr Housley, who runs a tutoring business for GCSE candidates with his wife in Shipley, said he believed the new foundations would have to be much deeper for the new building because of its increased size.
"There has to be a connection with the piling, the wall had been there for 20 years. They started on Friday and this happened on Saturday night," he said, "We're still trying to get in touch with them."
The couple had objected when the planning application for the development went in because of the scale of the building.
The couple have tried to contact developers Bardsley Construction again but were unable to get through yesterday.
They have contacted their house insurers and ward councillors for assistance.
Councillor John Pennington (Con, Bingley) said he plans to speak to the developers today to see how long the piledriving will be going on.
He added: "To me the big danger will be if any of the boulders on the moor are dislodged, because there are quite a few.”
No-one was available at Bardsley Homes to comment yesterday.
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