Whitefield Brook development has been under a programme of phased development for the last four years with work due to be completed this year
15:42, 12 Jan 2025Updated 15:45, 12 Jan 2025
Pauline Williams at her home in Kirkby.(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
A nan from Kirkby has reached the end of her tether and said she feels like she’s ‘living on a building site’. Since moving into her newly built home in Kirkby, Pauline Williams confirmed the house itself is ‘wonderful’ but claims a series of faults have negatively impacted her quality of life.
Pauline moved into her home on the Whitefield Brook development in January 2023 after being attracted by the range of tenancies offered by developer Your Housing Group (YHG) and the quality of the houses. Pauline said she is generally delighted with her home which is spacious, well-lit and comfortable throughout, however, claims minor issues have been left unresolved and are causing unnecessary upset.
One of Pauline’s main concerns is the drainage problems on the street and in her garden, she said: “You can’t dig in your garden. It doesn’t matter where you go underneath there’s solid concrete, so it’s not even been broken up. So everybody was complaining about drainage and it caused quite a bit of flooding.” Pauline is in contact with YHG and spoken to contractors who have assured her French drains will be fitted in the gardens.
Blocked drain filled with construction debris(Image: Resident handout)
The ECHO understands the Whitefield Brook development has been under a programme of phased development for the last four years with work due to be completed this year. Your Housing Group confirmed the safety and happiness of their tenants is their priority and said they will will continue to liaise with Ms Williams and contractors to resolve her concerns.
Lorraine Donnelly, Executive Director of Asset at Your Housing Group said: “We are very sorry to hear that Miss Williams is experiencing these unfortunate issues on our Whitefield Brook development.
“When Miss Williams moved into her property 18 months ago, certain parts of the site were still under development, as per the agreed timeline for this project, and this was made clear that there would be ongoing works until the projects’ agreed completion in 2025. Our contractors are now onsite completing the final stages of road surfacing and footpaths and we expect the project to finish on time as predicted.”
Nonetheless, the impact of faulty drainage system has been evident in a number of ways – not least the blocked drains on the road. Pauline claims bouts of heavy rain causes the construction debris and loose tarmac to wash over the ground and fall into the drain, she added: “When I watched [a contractor] actually using the gully sucking machines to take it out, the ironic thing was, they sucked it all out, put it in heaps at the side of the grid, drove off and left it. So of course, the next time it rained, it all got washed in again.”
Pauline Williams at her home in Kirkby.(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
As we speak to Pauline, it’s early afternoon and heavy duty vehicles and machinery can be seen (and heard) travelling up and down the street – just a few feet from where she sits in the living room. Pauline said she signed up to live on an ongoing development and knew it would take time before everything settled done and got finalised.
Furthermore, she has been impressed by the service she has received from Your Housing Group – the problem is the contractor’s work which is managed by EQUANS. Pauline said certain timeframes have been missed and clean-ups are inadequate – likening the situation to ‘living on a building site’.
Executive Director, Ms Donnelly added: “We work very closely with our construction partners to ensure there is minimal impact to those residents already living at Whitefield Brook, however, with it being an active development there will always be some traffic and construction debris left on site, despite our best efforts. Unfortunately, this debris can sometimes enter the drainage system, something which we work quickly to resolve to reduce impact on our residents.”
“We are already aware of some minor issues with drainage in gardens and these are already being assessed for any necessary works.”