Housing estates left unfinished
PEOPLE who bought new homes are still waiting for their roads to be built.
Coed Dyffryn in Aberdare is among the roads left with halffinished surfaces, long after builders have left.
PEOPLE who bought new homes are still waiting for their roads to be built, even though they moved in years ago.
Persimmon Homes, which built the houses, has blamed the collapse of Welsh construction firm Cuddy for the unfinished work on some of the estates.
Woodland Gardens in Pyle, Coed Dyffryn in Aberdare and The Boulevards in Newport have all been left with half-finished surfaces, long after the builders have left.
Unsurfaced roads plagued by potholes and broken kerbstones are claimed to have damaged cars.
One mother also says she had to shell out more than £500 on new pushchairs after the uneven surfaces damaged them beyond repair.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, lives at The Boulevards. She has described how even walking down the street is a struggle.
“The whole situation has been really, really frustrating and to be honest I’ve actually got to the point where I’ve given up,” she said.
“My pram has been damaged twice due to the height of the kerbs from the road to the pavement resulting in me having to pay out over £500 on new pushchairs, let alone the damage it has caused to my car which again is constantly causing me cost after cost as the tyres are constantly being punctured and worn down.
“I’m currently driving across unlevel roads day to day and have been for nearly three years.
“After moving onto The Boulevards estate in December 2015 there has been nothing but problems on the roads and pathways on the development.
“It is actually embarrassing that we have spent our life earnings on a home and we can’t even walk down the street without a struggle.”
Persimmon has apologised, saying it could not finish off the roads at two estates because its subcontractor, Cuddy, went into administration, with delays to the adoption of a road the cause of the issues at the third location.
Neath-based Cuddy, which employed more than 300 staff, folded in July. Some staff were taken on by Persimmon to work on new build sites in South Wales.
Persimmon said: “Our sub-contractor, Cuddy, went into administration earlier this year before completing the [Boulevards] estate roads, footpaths and sewers.
“A new sub-contractor has been appointed and they will begin works to complete the estate in the week commencing November 5. This will be communicated to all residents.”
This was of little comfort to residents. The resident, who has lived in her home for three years, said: “Persimmon Homes have been disgraceful in the whole matter, I’ve actually come to breaking point where I actually have given up contacting them.
“They make it impossible for you to contact anyone high up such as the director of the company and just constantly fob you off or hang up the phone.”
She said that in January 2017, she was assured the roads and paths would be completed that summer but it never happened.
Residents at Woodland Gardens and Coed Dyffryn have experienced similar issues.
In Pyle, there are surface water ponds in open areas, and road drains have been raised before being abandoned without any further work. Residents looking to move claim to be unable to sell their homes as the state of the roads is putting off potential buyers.
Persimmon said: “Persimmon was contractually obliged to honour its contract with Cuddy. However, as 2018 progressed it was clear that Persimmon had to take alternative action and appoint a new contractor to resolve the issues for our customers. This was following many opportunities for the Cuddy Group to resolve its issues.
“In just eight weeks we have written a new tender, tendered the work, appointed a new contractor and last week work began. Every effort is now underway to resolve the issues on Woodland Gardens.
“We have apologised to residents for the considerable inconvenience but these were exceptional circumstance beyond our control.”
In Aberdare, the new roads into the Coed Dyffryn Estate are yet to be adopted, causing uncertainty around who exactly is responsible for their maintenance.
Persimmon said: “All of the roads, footpaths and sewers have been completed at this development. However, the roads cannot be formally adopted until the access road (owned by Asda) is adopted by the Highway Authority. Persimmon took the decision to lay the final surfacing throughout the development, despite this delay to the formal adoption.”
“We continue to maintain the roads, footpaths and sewers until the Highway Authority and Asda resolve the situation.
“There is an area of Public Open Space at the site entrance that is yet to be completed. Persimmon Homes is obligated to upgrade a Welsh Water pumping station, which is immediately adjacent the proposed Public Open Space area. The works are a significant engineering operation, so for practical and safety reasons, the Public Open Space will be installed once the pumping station is completed.”
It was announced on November 7 that boss of Persimmon, Jeff Fairburn, would step down at the end of 2018.
It followed a row over his £75m pay award earlier this year, although Persimmon said he left by “mutual agreement and at the request of the company”.
It said the issue was having a “negative impact” on the firm’s reputation and on “Jeff’s ability to continue in his role”.