I’ve had another disappointing visit to Montpelier Road today to check out what is happening with the new Brick by Brick homes. We’re constantly told at Planning Committee that we have a housing crisis, and I have worked hard to help families in our ward who are in inappropriate accommodation, and still these 37 homes stand empty. First due to be handed over by the end of 2019, they are still vacant with numerous planning conditions needing to be met before they can be sold.
Aware that one of those conditions is a play space I walked between the Kingsdown Avenue flats and the Montpelier Road newbuilds. There is no play space – just a broken tree. Ironically, the play equipment isn’t going to be much more than a few logs artfully arranged but I’m pretty sure that the broken tree doesn’t meet the condition. I was informed that the equipment was on site in December and still it is nowhere to be seen. There was a huge amount of litter including clothing and food & drink packaging. I’ve still not fathomed how someone can carry an item to eat/drink from it but not have the strength to take it home or put it in a bin.
Brick by Brick’s contractor seems determined to do the bare minimum to meet planning conditions. The green rooves haven’t happened, the bird boxes are a colour and at a height that no self-preserving bird would actually use and there is just so much discarded material from the build and landscaping. Whilst I was in the public space, I came across a large amount of dead potted plants that had just been left there by the landscaping contractor. There are numerous bags of soil or mulch on the floor waiting for someone to trip over them. I could also see some bags on the private side of the fence that the new occupiers wouldn’t be able to reach from their gardens so residents of Kingsdown Avenue will have those plastic bags as their view for years to come. It is so disrespectful.
The local residents’ association has worked hard to ensure that the work has been completed appropriately and with consideration to the neighbours and yet still there are numerous outstanding issues, including compensation for damage to private property, that remain unresolved with no single point of contact who will take responsibility for tying up the loose ends before the new occupiers arrive.
I have again requested help from council officers on the points above and logged the discarded plants and bags as flytipping on behalf of Brick by Brick’s contractor. I have also asked for a litter sweep in the area.
