Resident battles Havebury Housing Partnership over state of courtyard in Barrow’s Autumn Close near Bury St Edmunds
The son of a resident who lives in an overgrown area is battling a housing association over the state of its neglect.
Peter Green, whose 98-year-old mother Mary Green lives in Autumn Close in Barrow, near Bury St Edmunds, has said residents feel abandoned as bushes in the courtyard area have been left unmanaged and are obstructing paths.
Mr Green, of Denham, has complained to Havebury Housing Partnership about the issue, but nothing has been done.
He said: “It’s got to quite a state you can’t even walk down the paths because of all the brambles that stick out. I can push through or walk around but for the elderly people it’s not very good. The impression residents get is that they’re just abandoned. They’ve complained about the issue for ages and nothing has happened.”
Mr Green added that a portion of tenants’ rent goes towards ground maintenance which is around £200-300 a year for grass cutting and preservation.
He added: “I don’t believe they’re getting anywhere near the value that they pay. The grass is hardly ever cut.
“There’s no maintenance done to any of the beds or the borders. It just gives an air of unkemptness and lack of concern and care by the organisation that runs it which is dispiriting for the people who live there.
“They’re not encouraged to go out because it’s such a mess.”
A spokesperson for Havebury Housing Partnership has apologised for the issue and said the ground maintenance contractor, Idverde, will resolve the problem by the end of next week.
Elsewhere in the county, West Suffolk Council came under fire for its policy on reducing the use of weedkiller and allowing grass to grow to promote biodiversity.
Please send in your images of overgrown areas of West Suffolk to tamika.green@iliffepublishing.co.uk with where the picture was taken.
