A KEY north-south route through Dorset may have to be closed to make it safe with the work likely to take at least seven months.

The C13 road at Dinah’s Hollow at Melbury Abbas on the route into Shaftesbury from the south, had previously been closed for stabilisation works from April 2014 until July 2015.

Dorset Council has been warned that the section through the Hollow could suffer a landslip at any time with the authority, potentially, being held liable.

Because of the problems the road is limited to one-way traffic and is lined with concrete barriers. New traffic signals were put in place this week.

Highways brief holder on the Dorset Council Cabinet, Cllr Ray Bryan, said on Tuesday that no work had been done on the stabilisation of the road section for nearly five years and that, as a result, all the report and consents would need to be reviewed and updated, before deciding what to do next. Permissions to cut down trees had also expired.

Residents in the area fear they could be cut off because of proposed works with others concerned that trees and other vegetation may be removed to allow the banks to be covered in a geotextile matting and giant ‘soil nails’ to hold the land in place.

Dorset Echo: The C13 road at Dinah’s Hollow at Melbury Abbas on the route into Shaftesbury from the south, had previously been closed for stabilisation works from April 2014 until July 2015.The C13 road at Dinah’s Hollow at Melbury Abbas on the route into Shaftesbury from the south, had previously been closed for stabilisation works from April 2014 until July 2015.

Ward councillors Jane Somper and Sherry Jespersen told the online Cabinet meeting this week there was great concern among residents about what might happen with many fearing they would not be fully consulted. They said resident were wary about any disruption.

Initial proposals from the council include buying the land on the east side of the Hollow at a cost of £130,000 so that it could carry out some drainage works in the short-term while a longer-term plan, which could cost £4.5million is considered.

Highways brief holder Cllr Ray Bryan promised that both councillors, and local residents, would be kept fully informed of any developments, inviting the two local councillors to sit in on any meetings about proposals for the road.

“It’s no secret I have great concerns over the potential repercussions in Dinah’s Hollow…I have the responsibility, as portfolio holder for highways, to ensure we have a safe and secure network…it’s no secret we are in a period of climate change and that being the case these slopes will become more vulnerable,” he said.

The council’s HGV policy for the A350/C13 route between Blandford Forum and Shaftesbury was agreed at the Cabinet meeting of the former Dorset County Council in December 2017. The routing works by directing northbound HGV’s along the A350 and southbound on the C13 through Melbury Abbas.