Forum for residents of St Georges Park and Long Leys Road Lincoln

[deb]

A meeting will take place shortly with Persimmons and Dave Underwood (County Highways). Are there any general concerns for people in Persimmon homes apart from the roads on the first development that still have not been completed?

[squeak]

There were some unresolved issues regarding the quality of the other goundworks including collapsing drains in shared driveways and other unadopted raods that Westbury's and subsequently Perimmons have not addressed but were made aware of/inspected some time ago (within 2 years of build). I have some specific examples if you need them

[deb]

Thanks Squeak, had heard about lack of action re drains and wondered if they had been sorted. Yes, indeed if there are specific addresses they should be directed to let me know. Gary will be attending for LLRA being on the estate and off work on the day. The council will need to know so that the drains are not adopted but adoption is some way off yet!

[squeak]

the drains in the shared drive/parking that runs between 3 and 9 Dorrigan Close have previously been reported and not rectified - i would guess that there may be similar problems in many of the areas that did actually get tarmaced (badly!) on the original Westbury site.

[deb]

Although Dave Underwood does not think there will be talk beyond the roads, he has agreed to take up other problems outside of this meeting. To this end, is the problem with continual blocking in the houses, drains full of debris, overflow in the street, smell? There is a good chance Gary will walk past this spot and can at least mention it so that Dave will know that Persimmons know!

[GDStimson]

Hello all

Here's some feedback from yesterday's meeting with Persimmon and Lincolnshire Highways. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the completion of the roads and pathways on the former Westbury developments, for which Persimmon are now responsible. (I have to say I almost felt sorry for Persimmon, they inherited a crock from Westbury!)

The outlook is quite positive though: despite slow progress so far, completion should be months - not years.

Background

Westbury initiated two phases of development on the St Georges site: “Lansdown Chase” (Madden/Dorrigan and the associated walkways) and “Aspen Court” (Benbow etc.).

Persimmon inherited these developments in “as is” condition at the time of the business takeover. Persimmons latterly found that Westbury had progressed these developments without any Section 38 agreement in place. It is very unusual, although not illegal, for a development to progress without a Section 38 agreement, particularly to the advanced state at which Persimmon took over Lansdown.

Section 38 is essentially planning and building regs for roads and paths. It is controlled by Highways, and it is the developer’s responsibility is to build roads, paths and drains to a design and materials specification which satisfies Highways. Highways inspect and approve various stages of the construction process.

Current situation

The lack of existing Section 38 agreement explains why Persimmon have made such slow progress with the roads, despite having initially estimated a few months for completion works (and communicated this in discussions with many of the local residents!).

However, Persimmon have now finalised their completion plan and applied for Section 38 agreement for both areas. Highways are expecting to approve the application(s) imminently, and are only awaiting the outcome of legal searches.

Persimmon are currently taking tenders for the construction work, in anticipation of Section 38 being signed off in the near future. Depending on the availability of contractors and timing of the Section 38 sign-off, it is anticipated that work should commence in 1-2 months.

Residents Questions

Former show home parking on Benbow/Fulmen: Persimmon confirmed that this will be removed as part of the completion works and returned to grass.

Fence between Hospital and Fulmen: No one present knew if there was a fence on the original development plans, but this is a planning issue, not a Highways issue.

Completion of Carram Way/Manrico road surface: Highways explained that this was the responsibility of David Wilson, not Persimmon, but advised that the recent halt in work had been called to allow a drain/sewer investigation to be conducted (due recent flooding), and any remedial work undertaken before final surfacing work is completed. This survey is now complete and, based on the findings, David Wilson have submitted their final “Exit Plan”. Work could therefore be expected to recommence shortly. No timescale could be given as no David Wilson representative was present.

Regards
Gary

[john shipton]

Well done Gary for taking this on board. You are a gem to the LLRA as well as with the rest of the committee members.
Hope that the local residents appreciate of what the LLRA has done and keeps doing in making sure that the developers, Lincoln City Council and County Hall, sort out and deal with the problems regarding our Urban Village.
Keeping them all on the ball makes them run in the right direction.
And the LLRA's involvement has been done in their own time and voluntary.
Working with the community for the community does work!

[iggy]

just a reminder Gary you stated months not years for the work to complete the works to the persimmons roads is there any news for the people that live in this area as it must be hell for them sorry to be a pain but it must be sorted soon you would hope

[GDStimson]

Quite right Ian, it's time for an update - I've emailed Dave Underwood at highways asking about Persimmons road completions, out of hours parking in the bus pull-in, and lights on the green.

Will share the info as and when.

Regards
Gary

[GDStimson]

Hello Ian / all

Update from Highways, as promised, is below. Unfortunately, there are no dates in it, but at least there is some progress.

Thank you for your recent email.

I'll reply to each of your points separately.

1) Madden and Dorrigan Way are waiting for the Section 38 Agreement to
be finalised with Persimmon Homes, having now completed the legal
searches. They have appointed a contractor and I'm awaiting a site
meeting with them to review all proposed works. Unfortunately, I do not
have a timescale for the works, however I shall be asking for it once
our meeting has taken place. The same contractor will also be completing
the road works on Benbow Way.

2) The sign to permit 'out of hours' parking on the Carram Way bus
lay-by has recently been agreed with David Wilson Homes to be installed
when Phase I of the Development is placed onto maintenance, prior to
adoption. This maintenance period shall commence shortly and lasts for
12 months, however it has been agreed they would install this sign at
the beginning of this period.

3) Any lamp columns lights around the Village Green that are not
working need to be referred back to Persimmon Homes for further
investigation. Please contact their Customer Care Line on 01482
679479.

I also got a phone call from Mike Rizan at highways explaining the situation before the email arrived, from which I understand the main delay on the roads is down to the legal departments from Persimmons and Highways sorting out various details and taking an unusually long time (probably more complicated than usual due to the way Persimmon inherited part constructed roads from Westbury without any associated plan approvals or Section 38 agreement in place).

I'll follow up with Persimmon regarding the lights.

Regards
Gary

[GDStimson]

Hello all

I notice the sign to permit out of hours parking in the Carram Way bus pull-in has finally appeared - didn't take long did it?

From previous statements made by highways, this implies that the roads in the David Wilson areas have gone into the maintenance phase prior to adoption.

No further word on completing the Persimmons roads yet I'm afraid.

Regards
Gary

[GDStimson]

Hello all

Here's the latest statement from Highways in response to a recent enquiry I made - thanks to Mike for the swift response and permission to quote.

As those of you living in the affected areas will know only too well, I'm afraid there's not been much progress since the last update.

Dear Mr Stimson,

Thank you for your email requesting an update on the St Georges Development off Long Leys Road, Lincoln. I'm sorry to report that unfortunately not a lot of progress has been made since we last spoke. I have confirmed with my Legal Services Department that a Section 38 Agreement was re-sent on the 16 January 2008 to Persimmon Homes and that we are still awaiting their reply and without this agreement in place LCC are unable to pursue the Developer.

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,


Mike Rizan
Directorate for Development
Highways & Traffic
Greater Lincoln & Gainsborough Div

Bearing in mind that Highways can't speak for Persimmon, the implication here is that the long awaited legal searches have been completed, a Section 38 agreement has been submitted and subsequently gone AWOL at Persimmon, the agreement has been re-sent by Highways, so the ball is presumably very much in Persimmon's court.

Does anyone have a good direct point of contact at Persimmon (other than the general customer helpline) so I can cross check where they think they're up to?

Regards
Gary

[cl12]

Hi, I have dealt with David Rowe at Persimmon. He is in charge of the customer care department. I don't have a direct number but if you call the customer care line they usually put you through to him.

[GDStimson]

Thanks, I'll give him a try.

Gary

[deb]

Info from one of our Dorrigan residents:

"the beverly office for lincs and humberside has been closed down and the staff made redundant as the company are experiencing problems,so the contact we had,david rowe,appears to no longer work for them,hence why none of our calls are being returned as they are all going through the midlands office.
a local firm which put in a tender to complete the works has also been unable to get a response from them.the council has sent the section 38 aggreement but has still had no contact from persimmon homes-where that leaves us residents of dorrigan close i dont know,if anyone can shed any light on this it would be much appreciated. "