Frustration over five-year handover delay

RESIDENTS on a Wokingham estate have called for ‘urgent action’ after waiting five years for it to be adopted by Wokingham Borough Council.

Anger boiled over this week when one local said workmen arrived then abandoned equipment without explanation.

And they expressed their frustration at a lack of answers while still having to pay council tax and management fees.

Maria Ciarleglio said it was “a scandal” that residents were being ignored.

“Workmen arrived two months ago but for the last month no one has been on the site.

“They just abandoned large equipment at the end of Carina Drive by the pond which is very unsightly.

“I contacted the council who passed the buck then I emailed the management company, Trinity Property Management but got no reply.

“When I phoned them they didn’t seem to know anything but the residents are having to pay both council tax and a management fee.

“The equipment left by the workmen is not only an eyesore but also dangerous. The estate has been here nearly six years yet it remains unfinished and no one seems to know why.”

Councillor David Lee whose Norreys ward includes the new estate said the blame lay with the developer, Bellway Homes.

“We cannot adopt a new development until the developer fulfils all their responsibilities made at the planning stage,” he explained.

“If we take on the estate in its current form, then the council would be liable to meet the cost.

“I have been in touch with Bellway and will do so again. Five years is an unusually long time for work to be completed and I understand people being very annoyed and rightly so.

“Bellway were very slow in completing a children’s play area on the estate and they are being very slow at completing other work.”

The Wokingham Paper contacted Bellway Homes but had not received a reply as we went to press.