Norreys residents are being let down by their house builder over maintenance of their amenities, a Labour councillor has warned.
Residents first moved into the Wheeler Avenue area, off Diamond Jubilee Way, 10 years ago, but they are still waiting for the road to be adopted by Wokingham Borough Council.
While they are waiting, housebuilder Crest Nicholson and its maintenance company Firstport are meant to be maintaining the roads, verges and play areas – but weeds are left to grow, with thistles and prickly vegetation springing up everywhere.
There are also broken road signs, which have been left in a dangerous, unfixed state for more than six months.
Cllr Nagi Nagella raised the issue at a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council on Thursday, October 23, and says he was disappointed with the response he received from the Lib Dem-run council, who told him that the works were substantially completed by 2017. However, as Thames Water had yet to complete sewage works, the roads cannot be adopted by the council.
He wants to see more pressure put on Crest Nicholson and on other housebuilders across the borough to ensure that roads are adopted quickly, and residents aren’t being asked to pay excessive service fees on top of their council tax when they aren’t receiving the service they are paying for.
The Norreys ward councillor asked: “It has been a decade since the first residents moved into Wheeler Avenue in Norreys and they are still waiting for the road to be adopted by the Council. But Mother Nature isn’t waiting, and weeds are growing thick and fast. Housebuilder Crest Nicholson is apparently responsible for maintenance of the road, yet residents are left with overgrown weeds and deteriorating, unkempt verges. What is the Council doing to work with Crest to finally progress adoption?”
In addition to the problems on Wheeler Avenue, Cllr Nagella highlighted problems with the Diamond Jubilee Play Area, where children are being asked to play in thorny, weed-strewn grasslands. In addition, a swing seat was removed months ago for repair and has not been replaced.
“The area looks like a wasteland rather than a pleasant park where families can spend a lovely afternoon together,” Cllr Nagella said after the meeting. “This should be the crown jewel of the development but instead it is scruffy, rundown and looks derelict.
“Crest Nicholson should be ashamed that they have neglected the area. Residents have told me that they are fed up of waiting for action to be taken.”
