Story: Emily Haimeed
Two years ago, local resident Sharon’s back garden wall collapsed. Since then, she has reported the problem to Sheffield Homes and Kier numerous times but the wall is still not fixed. I met Sharon to talk about the problem:
“Some guys sat on it and it fell over. I reported it to Sheffield Homes three times and Kier came to measure up twice, but nothing happened. One excuse they made was that the neighbour’s garden was too untidy so they couldn’t fix it. I don’t think that is a valid reason!”
Sharon then left the issue until she joined Burngreave TARA in 2011, when Sheffield Homes took up the issue again and after reporting it in March, an inspector from Kier came to Sharon’s house. He left a ‘you were not at home’ card, and the job was cancelled. Sharon said:
“I rang Kier back when I found the card, the Inspector said he couldn’t find the damaged wall. I told them he can’t have looked around the back. Sheffield Homes sent Kier a letter saying they had seen the damaged wall. In May they came back, this time they said they need the right bricks. This week Kier phoned me up and apologised and said it will take six weeks.
“They keep making excuses. I don’t even know if it will get done this time. I shouldn’t have to report it that many times and I’m very disappointed.”
The Messenger contacted Kier about the issue, they told us:
“Unfortunately, the bricks required are not kept in stock either by Kier or local merchants so they had to be ordered from the manufacturer – resulting in several weeks’ delay. We have also been in touch with the resident to explain the delay and apologise for the inconvenience, and we will keep her updated of any progress, as well as arrange a final appointment to complete the repair.”