Developers have been criticized by furious residents for making a multimillion pound estate look like “a pile of rubble” years after it was built.
Homeowners began moving into the 120-home Weogoran Park development in Worcester three years ago, paying up to £450,000 for their brand new properties.
Unfinished work has made the estate a mess and has led to people living in poverty.
Street lighting has not been turned on yet, leading to numerous break-ins. Locals are now concerned about their safety.
The crumbling of pavements and unfinished roads have created trip hazards, resulting in people being injured or falling on the streets.
Large potholes line the streets and stormwater drains can overflow due to poor drainage.
Residents now speak out about their disgust that St Modwen Homes’ ‘nightmare developers’ are still working on the project, many years after construction began.
Homeowners began moving into the 120-home Weogoran Park development in Worcester three years ago, paying up to £450,000 for their new-build properties. Pictured: Vidmante Norvaisaite poses next to potholes on the estate
Kelly Spencer, 33 years old, is a full-time caregiver. She said, “It has been horrible from the time we moved in two year ago.”
“The roads have been crumbling. There are huge holes in the streets. The kerbs are coming apart from the pavement. This doesn’t seem like a new build estate.
“At night, my yard is totally darkened and it’s unsafe. Cones are placed where streetlights should be.
I’m very close to moving, it’s too dangerous. There are trip hazards all around, and you can’t even see where your going.
Then, when it rains, the drains flood and overflow onto pavements making them extremely slippery.
“It’s causing damage to cars, and my father almost fell off his scooter. It will get even worse if they do not fix it before the winter months.
The developers at St Modwen’s have been too focused on building houses and not solving the issues.
One resident added, not wanting to be named: “This is supposed be a new luxury estate. It just seems like we’re living almost in Third World circumstances.
“They just made the place look like a heap of rubble.
A unfinished walkway at Weogoran Park in Worcester. Homes sell for upwards of £450,000 here
“I have heard that some individuals have signed non-disclosure agreements regarding problems in their homes. So the problem isn’t just outside.
‘When you pay £450,000 for a house you want value for money and we simply haven’t got that.
“Instead, we have a poor sewerage system and drainage system and death trap roads and pavements. We are in total darkness at night.”
Residents say the houses on Weogoran Park cost between £300,000 to £320,000 for a three bedroom property and £400,000 to £450,000 for a four bed.
St Modwen Homes claims that the developers have already started to fix the issues and will be finished by Christmas.
A man claims that he sued developers after falling over the drainage covers in the dark, and inflicting a severe injury to his back.
Daniel Deane (46), a network controller at a logistics firm, paid almost half a million to buy his house in 2018. He said that he had just been walking with his wife home when he bought it.
“Because it wasn’t completely dark, I couldn’t see any raised drain covers and flew about 6ft. It also injured my back.
‘I put a no win/no fee claim in with a solicitors and they paid out about £3,000.
‘It could have been £50 for all I cared I just wanted them to know they couldn’t get away with it but yet still nothing has been done in about three years.
“It could be a senior falling over, and the couple just left it there without any warning.
“Whenever an accident occurs, they must place cones or barriers around the area to warn people about it.
“Due to the absence of lighting, there were a lot of break-ins so we purchased a Rottweiler as deterrent because we felt unsafe here.
“We will not buy a house built from scratch ever again.”
Keith Burton, a former Worcester City Councillor (pictured), whose garden borders on the Weogoran Park estate of Worcester
Rana Fakhar (30, father-of-one), a physician, stated that he has also had issues with his home and the streets outside.
He stated that the houses were not affordable and that he doesn’t believe he has received what he paid.
“We have a 1-and-a-half-year-old toddler that can’t walk outside due to the dangerous pavements.
“At night the entire area was in pitch darkness and I also experienced problems with interior with water and carpeting around the sink.
“The estate is not up to standards and they continue to say they will solve the problem, but then it just doesn’t happen.”
Daniel Deane, 46, resident of Weogoran Park standing next to a manhole on an un-finished pavment at Weogoran Park housing estate in Worcester
Keith Burton (79), a retired councillor, said that there have been issues with the development since the beginning.
“When the fence was constructed, they placed it right beside my back fence. I did not have enough money to pay them to challenge me in court.
“I belong to the Local Residents Association. I have only heard about problems with sewerage and roads.
“The sewerage was backed up at the start and overflowed into a person’s backyard. I’m still not sure that it’s been repaired.
They have been developers from hell. This has been an absolute nightmare for the past two years.
One resident added that water from the rain runs down the roads and collects at the bottom.
“We’ve been here for 18 months and there were broken promises about when it would be over. It’s easy to get used to it, but the truth is that you don’t deserve it.
The footpaths around mine were made 18 months before. They didn’t tarmac it, even though I thought they might.
“It’s disgusting that it’s been left in this state.”
St Modwen Homes spokesperson said that they had already spoken to residents about completion of roadworks at Weogoran Park’s first phase. This was in order for them to inform the public that the works would begin on November 9, 2021.
After the closure of the care facility, the Worcestershire County Council approved the scope of works in October.
“The work will take 12 weeks to complete. These works will include footpath repairs and kerb replacements as well as final road surface, signage, lighting, and street signage.