Angry Black Country residents cut off from £400k newbuild housing estate by another landslide
Fed-up residents on a newbuild estate in Cradley Heath say their £400,000 homes have been cut off for more than six months after two landslides blocked their road.
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Residents say they are fed up after ANOTHER landslide has blocked the road leading to their £400k homes. Newly released CCTV shows the moment tonnes of earth smashed through the barriers and across the road - blocking access to twelve properties in Cradley Heath.
Homeowners in Haden Cross Drive were unable to park on their driveways after earth and rubble tumbled across the street just feet from their front doors. A temporary sandbag wall was built following the landslip last March but it collapsed following days of heavy rain just before Christmas.
Locals say they are still unable to park outside their homes six months later while they continue to wait for the rubble and earth to be moved. They also say the estate has become plagued with drainage problems with some complaining that sewage cascades into gardens and onto verges when it rains.
Reece Aleksander, 33, said residents felt abandoned and feared the problems on the estate would never be resolved. Reece said: “It’s a nightmare. When I step outside my house we’ve just got this big mound of dirt to look at. Even going up onto my lawn I can still see this big mound of dirt.”
The engineer, who lives with his wife Georgia and their baby, said: “Trying to get a pushchair or anything near that soil is impossible.”
Council enforcement to clear road
He added: “We’ve been given no indication of when it will be sorted ever since our MP got involved in December.
They [Dunedin Homes] apparently have a plan in place for a temporary fix. We’ve been told it’s going to be a gabion wall but we haven’t been given a timeframe.”
Sandwell Council have given the housing firm until September to clear the road and have threatened taking enforcement action.
'Cars block my footpath'
Retired restaurant owner Irene Taylor, 82, says she is also desperate to move.
She said: “I’ve got five cars blocking my footpath and no one can get by with a pushchair. The lady up the top of the road had a fall trying to get over the earth from the landslip.”
Sandwell Council said it was in “contact with the developer.”
Who is responsible?
A spokesperson said: “Even though the land is not owned by the council we have, however, been in ongoing contact with the developer to check what action the management company responsible for maintenance and repair is taking to rectify the problem.”
The estate is privately owned by Dunedin Homes but residents claim no one is taking responsibility for the issues.
Dunedin Homes has been approached for comment.
