Construction of 30 affordable flats in Bradley Lane, Newton Abbot, has re-started after a landslide in October brought the £4 million project to a halt.
Workmen had begun work on the steep bank above the construction site when tons of earth and rock came tumbling down. Engineers rushed to nearby properties warning householders not to enter their back gardens, which were left within just a few feet of a precipitous 80ft drop.
Three thousand tonnes of rubble were used to stabilise the embankment, which was also pinned and covered with tarpaulins. This week, bulldozers were back on the site.
The group behind the project, Affinity Sutton, said in a statement: 'The earlier geological problem with this site has now been resolved and we are pleased that our plans to develop affordable housing can now continue. 'The contractors returned to the site this week.' Residents, too, received a note telling them that drilling machines and excavators would be active for the next five weeks.
Gwen French, who lives in St Anne's Court, said it was the first information she had received about the situation this year and criticised the lack of consultation. 'We haven't got much say as these places are rented,' she said. 'If they were privately owned it would be different, but as it is we've just got to live with it.'
Meanwhile, work on another affordable homes project in the town also looks unlikely to be completed for some time. Teignbridge Council sold the boarded-up properties in Clarendon Road, next to the new Asda supermarket, to Westcountry Housing last July in a pre-auction deal thought to have netted close to £400,000.
Sixteen new flats were planned for the site, but this week a council spokesman said work was 'unlikely to start for another 12 months minimum' as designs had to be finalised and planning permission granted. When the sell-off was agreed, Cllr David Howe, who represents the ward, warned that the deal could result in delays stretching beyond 2009. 'Draw a line in the sand, sell them on the open market,' he said at the time.