A YEAR on from the partial collapse of an iconic Cockermouth building, the town's Chamber of Trade has called on the owner to 'work with the necessary agencies' and resolve the issue 'for the good of the town' - as the Environment Agency works with the council to minimise the risk of flooding over the winter.

Tuesday, October 8 marked a year to the day the former Old Courthouse building partially collapsed into the river Cocker, with significant disruption being caused to many businesses and people in the town.

A year of uncertainty around the future of the building has followed, with concerns that the issue has not been resolved.

In January, Cumberland Council issued a section 54 notice, part of the Planning (Listed Buildings 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.

Since serving the notice, Cumberland Council said that officers have continued to work with all the various partners and agencies.

No work has been undertaken by the owner of the building, Samiul Ahmed. However, Mr Ahmed has criticised the council on a number of occasions, accusing them of leaving him facing 'a wall of silence' in relation to the work on the building.

The council said that they had been engaged with Mr Ahmed on 'multiple occasions' but as yet 'no meaningful steps had been made to progress the works'.

The Cocker Bridge was also closed to traffic for a number of months, causing issues to transport in the town, prior to it reopening to one way traffic in mid-December last year, and then two-way traffic in July.

A spokesman for Cockermouth & District Chamber of Trade said: “It's been a year of uncertainty regarding the Courthouse and we remain hugely frustrated that the issue is not resolved.

"We met only last week with the council and the town’s MP and this matter was high on the agenda.

"We know this is an incredibly complicated situation - practically and legally – but we urge the Courthouse owner to act now and work with the necessary agencies to resolve it, for the good of the town.”

Storm Lillian in August caused scaffolding from the partially collapsed building to tumble into the River Cocker, with the Environment Agency issuing an update for residents as the winter months approach.

In a statement, the Environment Agency said: "Since the initial collapse of the Old Courthouse building in Cockermouth in October 2023, we have continued to work with Cumberland Council to help ensure the risk of flooding to the community is managed as best as possible.

"The owner of the building is responsible for the condition of the building and not obstructing the river channel.

"The material that has collapsed into the river has resulted in a small increase in the risk of flooding. Using our discretionary powers to carry out works to reduce flood risk we have put in demountable defences located in the doorways on the Main Street side of the building, to help prevent flow routes through the building resulting in flooding of properties.

"Over the next two weeks our contractor will remove the scaffolding that has fallen into the river from the building as there is a risk this could cause blockage and flooding to properties in Cockermouth. This is challenging to do due the unsafe nature of the building.

"We are also assessing whether to deploy further temporary defence measures to help protect against the risk of flooding to the community.

"The building remains vulnerable to further collapse, particularly with the likelihood of increased heavy rainfall events and storms during the autumn and winter period.

"We will continue to maintain our contingency measures and our field operations team remain ready to respond to help protect the community in Cockermouth from flooding in the event of any significant wet weather."