Sewage work has caused a right stink
Residents kick up over lack of notice before digging
People in Perth are having to put up with significant disruption as a developer digs up a popular play park to put new sewage pipes underground.
Residents are also perplexed as to why they received no warning the works were coming considering the scope of the massive excavating operation that is currently under way in Perth’s Craigie area.
Private contractors working for Bellway Homes apparently pitched up at the park next to Darnhall Crescent around two weeks ago and started shovelling soil uncovering the existing sewage network.
Residents have expressed concern about new sewage pipes being laid so close to a children’s play park and now want to know when the works will be finished as frustration builds about the lack of consultation or communication.
One Craigie resident complained: “All those huge pipes are apparently for sewage which is obviously quite worrying for residents who don’t want sewage piling up.
“It is not a very pleasant thought for sewage to be stored at Darnhall. Noone was told about it - they just started digging. None of the residents know what is going on.”
Perth City South councillor Willie Wilson commented: “The lack of notice and information to local residents is completely unacceptable as the work is very intrusive for the local community.
“The least that could have been done is for local folk to have been told of the work in advance, the reasons for it and how long it would take. None of this action has been taken.”
A spokesperson for Bellway Homes said yesterday: “The play area itself is within an existing housing development and the local authority has responsibility for the park. We were required to give the council five days’ notice before starting our works, which we did.
“We are currently improving the sewage network with upgrades to the system. We have not entered the existing sewage network so there should not be any smell as there is no opening to the existing sewer.
“We will need to link the new system to the old, and an odour may be present at this point, but we expect this to be minimal and to only last a short number of hours at most.
“The works themselves will take approximately two weeks, followed by a period of time for re-turfing the area. Allowing for adverse weather, we expect this to be complete within a month.
“We will then be required to contact the local authority, who will decide when they are happy to take the fencing down and allow access to the area once again.” Contractors are working on the site of the play park close to Darnhall Crescent in Craigie