Rougham resident of Smithy Close housing estate near Bury St Edmunds voices frustration over untidy green spaces
A resident from Rougham, near Bury St Edmunds, has expressed her frustration over the ‘untidy’ state of the housing estate where she lives.
Debra Palmer, 65, said every year she has contacted Havebury Housing Partnership to cut the grass and shrubs which are overgrown and are obstructing paths and the view of the road on the Smithy Close estate.
She is having to cut the hedges herself.
She said: “When my husband was alive, he had a wheelchair and I couldn’t get the wheelchair past when he was terminally ill.
“Now I cut bits off it myself – which I shouldn’t do. I can’t see cars coming into the close, let alone children, and I keep thinking one of these days they’re going fly out on their scooters and a car is going to hit them.
“They haven’t come out once this year. There’s a communal piece of grass and it looks so untidy and the children sometimes play football on there.”
Debra said that part of her rent goes towards ground maintenance of the area.
She would like the grass and shrubs in the area to be cut every six weeks.
Debra’s concerns follow another resident’s complaint last week about the state of a courtyard area in Barrow.
A spokesperson for Havebury Housing Partnership said: “We are aware that some residents are having issues with grass-cutting, through reports we’ve received and via our own inspections.
“We are working closely with our ground maintenance contractor, Idverde, to ensure all our green areas are cut by the end of July. Once this has been done, the regular grass-cutting schedule will resume.
“We also regularly work with local authorities to carry out inspections in our estates and communities, including green spaces they own.
“This helps ensure we can proactively resolve issues that may be affecting our residents and the wider community. We invite residents along to these and appreciate them sharing their feedback with us.”
Residents can report grass-cutting or other grounds maintenance issues to its Neighbourhood and Estates team.
They can do this via the myHavebury app, by emailing myarea@havebury.com, or by calling 0300 3300 900 and entering extension number 7333.
Please send in your images of overgrown areas of West Suffolk to tamika.green@iliffepublishing.co.uk with where the picture was taken.
