A MUM-OF-THREE from Dursley has described her anguish at the ‘nightmare’ situation her family have been left in by council building work which has lasted all year.
Lisa-Marie Wood has lived in a Stroud District Council property in St George’s for almost seven years with her husband and three children.
SDC contractors began work in January to install a new roof, windows and insulation and carry out rendering – however Lisa says it has turned into a drawn out ‘nightmare’ with the work still not complete.
The family were left with no heating or hot water for two weeks after a boiler stopped working during the work.
And she says builders have left nails lying around causing three punctured car tyres and injuring her two-year-old son who was playing in the garden.
In addition, building waste clogged up outside drains meaning the garden flooded which caused damage put at around £200.
“It has been a nightmare and has made me so miserable and it’s been going on for so long now,” said Lisa.
“SDC contractors have been working on my house since January and have caused nothing but problems.
“It feels like the past year has been a drain on all of us, my poor two-year-old toddler only knows our house this way.
“It has been a real drain on my mental health and there have been days where I’ve cried because of all the stress.”
Lisa says there hasn’t been clear communication from the district council with complaints continuously getting lost with multiple site managers and liaison officers.
“The first part of the work went well although the workers often left nails all over my garden which resulted in my toddler cutting his hand,” she said.
“Builders also left nails on our road leaving us with three punctured car tyres.
“And then our boiler broke leaving us with no hot water or heating for two weeks and the drains blocked meaning the garden flooded.
“Also we can’t open our windows due to all the scaffolding.
“We put in a complaint to SDC but nothing has really changed.”
The Gazette approached Stroud District Council for a comment.
A spokesperson said: “A formal complaint about the amount of time the works have taken to complete on Ms Wood’s home has been investigated and upheld.
“We will make an offer of compensation when full details are received from Ms Wood.
“We aim to provide a high standard of service for our tenants.
“Clearly this is not the case in this instance, and we have apologised to Ms Wood.
“We are working closely with our contractor and are confident that improvements to working practices and communication have now been made.
“We own and manage around 5,000 council homes throughout the district.
“We are investing £30 million in a five-year programme to repair, maintain and invest in current council housing stock and bring empty council homes back into use.”
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