Fernwood Water Tower now secured following trespassing by children

Fencing at the imposing art-deco Fernwood Water Tower has been fixed by the owner without the need for a council to intervene.

The water tower had been cause for concern after children trespassed inside.

Fernwood Parish Council had been in contact with Newark and Sherwood District Council over the issue.

The district council had been prepared to board up the tower and fix the fencing and then invoice the owner, but the owner has now paid for the work to be done.

Parish clerk Marion Fox Goddard said it was good news.

The tower was bought at auction in 2019 where it had a £130,000 guide price. It has planning permission for 13 one and two-bedroomed apartments.

Permission was granted for three new-build units in proposed wings to the tower and another eight apartments in two new blocks in the L-shaped grounds.

Two apartments would be in the tower itself.

Despite being known locally as the Water Tower, the iconic building was originally built in the 1930s as a chimney and is the only surviving section of the former Balderton Hospital.

A previous application to knock it down was refused on the grounds of loss to the community.