Council bosses plan to tear down a wall built with their approval and build a new one - costing £60,000.

The council’s cabinet committee voted to replace the wall at Eastwood Nursery Allotments due to alleged concerns about the look and the safety of the wall.

This is despite the fact that during its construction planning officials had been aware of the plans at all times - and had signed off to confirm it was of an acceptable standard after it was built.

Colin Stanage, Eastwood Nursery Allotments Association (ENAA) chairman, said: “This seems like a worrying waste of public and charitable funds at a time of austerity and cutbacks.

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"We are bemused at the decision and have not had a clear explanation of why a new wall is needed - at considerable expense.”

Members of ENAA, which manages the site in Eastwood Park, said the brick wall, inlaid with timber panels, is popular among neighbours.

They also claim it is structurally sound and secure.

Colin added: “Not only is demolishing the wall unnecessary in our view, the new wall was built with £18,900 of charity funding from Whitelee Wind Farm’s Community Grant Fund, which will be lost when the wall is demolished.”

The wall was only built last year after council engineers ruled the pre-existing wall was unsound and had to be demolished.

On discovering their lease left the allotment association liable for replacing the original wall, ENAA’s volunteer committee secured funding for a new wall and agreed plans for a lower height of the wall with the council before proceeding.

It is only after a complaint from a neighbour about the wall’s height that the council began to claim that the wall was not satisfactory.

Bosses said gardening and other activities held on the site were not well enough screened from view.

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And they then commissioned an engineer to raise concerns about the vulnerability of the brick pillars to strong winds - concerns that ENAA regard as debatable.

Despite the complaint, the committee believe nearly all neighbours and users of Eastwood Park are happy with the wall, and members of ENAA have had considerable positive feedback.

They are now calling on the council to change its mind and leave their wall intact.

Colin said: “This is a quite baffling decision, especially given that the council’s officials have previously expressed satisfaction with the wall.

"Our neighbours will be stunned when they see the council demolishing a perfectly-good wall, only to rebuild it again.”

A council spokeswoman said: "Four years ago, the council leased ENAA the site that the allotments now occupy including liability for the maintenance of boundary walls.

In 2013, the original brick wall was judged unsafe and on the advice of the council, demolished. The ENAA accepted responsibility for reinstating the wall and appointed a contractor to erect a replacement to specifications agreed with the council’s Property and Technical Services.

“Unfortunately the new wall was not compliant with the agreed standards.

This attracted a number of complaints from local residents who had been assured throughout that the allotment activities would be adequately screened from view.

A survey by a structural engineer subsequently found that, in addition to aesthetics, the new wall fell short of safety requirements too.

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“In view of the fact that the land is still owned by the council and leased to a community group with limited funds, we were keen to arrive at a compromise acceptable to both the association and residents. After a lengthy discussion at our June Cabinet meeting around a number of options, Cabinet agreed that ERC should absorb the cost of a new wall that meets all the required standards.

“As part of good governance, any decision by Cabinet can be subject to review by our highly regarded audit committee before it becomes a council decision.

"The committee will review the position tomorrow and will make their recommendations thereafter.”