Tip to cost £214,000

WORK to repair the unsafe rock face at Portishead's civic amenity site is to start on Monday.North Somerset Council has awarded the contract for the specialist work - expected to cost £214,000, to local company Richies.The work will last for 10 weeks and will involve securing the rock face and installing a safety fence at the crest, along the edge of Weston Big Wood.Further work will include reinforcing the supporting banks to Valley Road in a bid to prevent the need for a possible road closure in the future.The council will also be working closely with contractors over the next few weeks to partially re-open the site. The closure of Valley Road, which had been anticipated during the partial opening of the site, will no longer be necessary as arrangements have been made within the site to hold queuing cars.The tip closed in April following health and safety concerns about the rock face. But work, expected to be complete by mid December, had to be delayed because of a nest of breeding peregrine falcons which had set up home on the quarry face.