Sinking

Thursday was quite intense at work.

All our missing colleague’s work has to be reviewed in the circumstances of her recent behaviour, and then allocated out amongst the rest of us to deal with while she is away.

I was able to escape for a few minutes in the afternoon to look at a nearby problem we are dealing with on a couple of cases. About 7-8 years ago a former printing works was redeveloped into apartments. Then about 4 years ago one corner of the car park disappeared into a hole in the ground. 

It seems likely the redevelopment work disturbed old coal mine workings. A small part of the development had to be demolished. Subsidence affected several more units, with some owners being re-housed as their properties had become unsafe.

The hole in the ground was filled last year, and since then some repair work has been done. It should all be completed this year. 

It is a nightmare for the owners affected by damage, but also for all the owners in the development. They cannot sell their homes. In some cases, they cannot be rented out either because insurance cannot be obtained. 

Most coal mining in the area was deep level and is properly charted. However, very occasionally much older mine workings close to the surface are found.

One big question in this case is whether the developer did sufficient investigation into the ground conditions. The lawyers will be kept busy on that one.      

I got a Blip out of it, and got a bit wet doing so. Another very cool and rainy day. Bring back springtime, please.