The very latest on the Old Courthouse

Good afternoon, this is the very latest on the Old Courthouse, which I have just received. Here is Cumberland Council's statement on the latest events.

"Structural engineers working on behalf of Cumberland Council are making assessments of the interior of the Old Courthouse building in Cockermouth after the council was granted a warrant to gain entry. A warrant of entry was granted on Monday (30 October) at Workington’s Magistrates’ Court.

Following the partial collapse of the building earlier this month, Cumberland Council issued a Notice of Intention of Emergency Works under section 78 of the Building Act 1984. This listed the emergency work they undertaken to remove the imminent danger caused by the building. This included installing fencing and installing a covered walkway across the Cocker bridge.

The council also informed the owner of the property that they required access to the property and would soon be serving a further notice using section 54 of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. This enables a local authority to carry out urgent works for the preservation of listed buildings in their area after giving notice to the owner.

Further legal action has been taken which has now allowed the council’s appointed structural engineers to access the partially collapsed building.

The Old Courthouse is a Grade II listed building, and the council is in ongoing discussions with partners including Historic England. Agencies are continuing to work together to protect public safety. Access is required to the site to undertake further survey work which will inform how and what works can be undertaken. Some exterior assessments of the site have already been undertaken a LiDAR survey which has provided a 3D map of the building. A contractor is continuing to work with the council to assess access to the site and is helping to determine how any works could be undertaken.

The bridge over the river Cocker continues to remain closed to traffic, as a precautionary measure, but a new walkway is available for pedestrians and cyclists. This opened on Thursday 12 October. Temporary traffic lights have been installed in Kirkgate and the on-street parking in this area has been suspended to help manage the flow of traffic through the town. The river embankment has been fenced off in the potential drop zone.

Cumberland Council spokesperson said:

“We have taken further legal action which has allowed us to enter the building.

“Structural engineers working on our behalf have now been able to assess the interior of the building.

“This is a complex site and public safety is our main priority.

“We need to determine what bracing is required to the building before removal of any debris can be carried out to the rear of the property. If the internal structure isn’t braced that can lead to a further collapse.

“As there an urgency to carry out the assessment, the court has given us permission to enter the site.”

Cockermouth is open for business. Please continue to support local traders.

Cumberland Council is continuing to support affected residents and businesses"

The Old Courthouse, Cockermouth

Huge apologies, but I missed this email coming into my inbox a few days ago. This was the latest update from Cumberland Council.

"Legal action is being taken against the owner of the Old Courthouse building in Cockermouth. Following the partial collapse of the Old Courthouse building in Cockermouth earlier this month, Cumberland Council has issued a Notice of Intention of Emergency Works under section 78 of the Building Act 1984. This sets out the emergency work they have had to take to remove the imminent danger caused by the building. This includes installing fencing and installing a covered walkway across the Cocker bridge.

The council has also informed the owner of the property that they require access to the property and will soon be serving a further notice using section 54 of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation) Act 1990. This enables a local authority to carry out urgent works for the preservation of listed buildings in their area after giving notice to the owner.

The Old Courthouse is a Grade II listed building, and the council is in ongoing discussions with partners including Historic England. Agencies are continuing to work together to protect public safety. Access is required to the site to undertake further survey work which will inform how and what works can be undertaken.

Some exterior assessments of the site have already been undertaken a LiDAR survey which has provided a 3D map of the building. A contractor is continuing to work with the council to assess access to the site and is helping to determine how any works could be undertaken. The bridge over the river Cocker continues to remain closed to traffic, as a precautionary measure, but a new walkway is available for pedestrians and cyclists. This opened on Thursday 12 October. Temporary traffic lights have been installed in Kirkgate and the on-street parking in this area has been suspended to help manage the flow of traffic through the town.

The river embankment has been fenced off in the potential drop zone.

Cumberland Council spokesperson said:

“Our officers have been working hard behind the scenes and following the partial collapse, took immediate action to protect public safety. Following legal advice, we have taken steps to gain access to the building to assess the quickest and safest way to take action that would then allow us to reopen the Cocker Bridge to traffic.

“This is a complex site and public safety is our main priority.

“We will do all we can to reopen the bridge to the vehicles as soon as we can but in the meantime, we have installed a covered walkway for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Cockermouth is open for business. Please continue to support local traders.”

Cumberland Council is continuing to support affected residents and businesses.

Old Courthouse

The Environment Agency have given us this update:

"The Honest Lawyer Building along the River Cocker in Cockermouth partially collapsed on 8 October 2023.

We know the community will be concerned about the impact of the Honest Lawyer building collapse on flood risk to Cockermouth. We would like to re-assure you that we have extra staff at this location assessing any impact on flood risk and making plans to manage any additional risk if needed.

We are the lead authority for managing flood risk from the Rivers Derwent and Cocker in Cockermouth. Cumberland Council is the lead authority for the stability of the building and for any health and safety issues there may be due to the building's partial collapse. We have been talking to Cumberland Council

about the impact of the collapsed building on flood risk to Cockermouth. We have also discussed the impact of any further collapse with them.

Rainfall and Flood Risk in Cockermouth

We are monitoring the weather forecast closely. Rain is expected in Cumbria on Thursday and Friday this week. Before this rainfall, we will be testing the use of sandbags to block any possible routes where we

consider flood water could flow into the town at the Honest Lawyer location. This will help us understand where we need to build sandbag walls in advance of the rain currently forecast for later this week and in

the future as needed. The sandbag walls will be taken down when they are no longer needed, but the sandbags will remain on site for any future use.

Over the next couple of months, we are planning to use stoplogs instead of sandbags if they are needed.

Stoplogs are aluminium bars that slot into a frame to stop the flow of flood water. They are removed afterwards. We have spoken to property owners and landowners who will be affected by the sandbag walls

and stoplogs.

We will continue to work with Cumberland Council as they put in place plans to manage the stability of the building. We will re-evaluate our plans to manage flood risk as needed.

We are not currently planning to remove the rubble in the river from the Honest Lawyer building, having carefully assessed its impact on flood risk. We will re-assess this if the building collapses further. We are

developing plans to remove the rubble if our assessment of its impact on flood risk changes.

In the longer term, we are reviewing the structural integrity of the flood risk management scheme in

Cockermouth and repairing it where necessary. We are also considering the current standard of protection that the scheme offers and are looking at potential improvements, both in the town and the wider

catchment.

Further Information

If you have any further questions about flood risk at Cockermouth, please contact the Environment Agency

at:

Inforequests.cmblnc@environment-agency.gov.uk