Life in the new Bournville is not so sweet, after all.
By, a disgruntled resident of 14 years
So, in 2006, following a decision to move to Shropshire, we stumbled upon the development of Bournville’s Lightmoor village in South Telford. Based on the famous development in Birmingham, founded by the Cadbury family over 100 years ago.
New builds weren’t really on our desirable list due to the Government move to increase social housing within all new developments. We wanted some stability in terms of residents in the street and worried about high turnover of different folk detracting from the “community spirit”
However, the sales blurb around Bournville assured us that this was a low risk due to all BVT tenants being professionals who were vetted and special preference was given to those in jobs such as Ambulance, Fire and Police.
The estate management team also mapped out a bright future of neatly maintained communal areas, trimmed hedges, playground areas, a school, doctor, shops, managed shared driveways and community spirit.
Non-conformance was quickly quashed and tenants stepping out of line (including ourselves for the wrong type fence) were reminded of the rules (too many to remember but examples include: park in designated areas, no sky dishes, maintain garden spaces, fences to be replaced like-for-like, no works vans in the street, no washing lines, no ball games – we spent 30 minutes listening to the solicitor before signing the contract!)
We moved in, problems were addressed quickly, we could call upon BVT and they generally sorted things out.
Residents meetings were held and opportunities were given to raise issues directly to BVT.
Life in the new Bournville was sweet…….. for a while.
Roll on 14 years…….
Parts of the development have still not yet been adopted by the Council. Even the local Horsehay councillor is trying to understand the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders, BVT & Persimmon. Issues that would normally be raised on the T&W website about anti-social behaviour or highway maintenance are ignored. The initial developer Persimmon has forgotten about the development and BVT are supporting almost 800 homes across the full site, which is still not finished.
The problems today are numerous and the powers that BVT have are limited – by their own admission, (particularly around issues of parking).
Typical daily issues:
-Private houses given over to private renters who flout the rules
-Parking on junctions, on traffic calming features, on bends -all causing potential safety issues and problems. The Police aren’t interested.
-Resident “defensive” parking to prevent others using spaces
-Block paving which is algae-covered, broken, uneven and causing trip/slip hazards.
-Plastic drain covers cracked or broken
-Dog mess in public spaces (despite warning signs of prosecution)
-No shops – all closed…. No longer sustainable.
-No Doctor
-Litter rife in certain areas
-BVT tenants, some who clearly don’t hold jobs and can’t follow the same rules as homeowners.
-Bins left out all week in the street.
The local support team is struggling. As receptive as they are to issues, there is no resolution.
There are some beautiful areas within the development maintained by the stewardship team, but when you come home to inconsiderate and dangerous parking, unkempt paths and driveways, it makes one wonder where the monthly charge is going.
The concept was a good one, but unfortunately, in Lightmoor Village, life is no longer sweet.
My husband and I came together late in life with nothing behind us and no prospect of securing a manageable mortgage we had to become one of the families who were were grateful to apply for one of the social homes available on new developments. We did however have to wait to see which one of two properties we had been allocated as apparently the other family were first in line and had the deciding vote but we had to wait for them to come into the Country !! We have made and maintained our home as if it were our own and are immensely proud of it as long as we can close our front door behind us and keep it firmly closed. We too pay a service fee to a Management Company and whilst T&W when they see the standards we keep, now seem to be on board with carrying out any jobs required to the very best of their ability, but over the years we have battled to ensure that this is the case !! however the Estate in general is a disgrace and I have had to come to terms, after many years of trying, with the fact that if the homes are left in such terrible state it will only be T&W who will be the losers. What happened to ‘home inspections’ ? As you have discovered parking is an an absolute nightmare and on many occasions I have travelled home literally praying that I can get a space to park. The pavements are lined with bins and I sweep the roads on a regular basis myself within the area I live. The gardens to many properties too are a disgrace. I have tried on numerous occasions to move to new developments providing social housing but, after registering for new home notifications, sent to our phones, before we have even opened up the notifications, the properties have gone – how that happens is beyond me. My husband and I have even timed the procedure and it takes less than 5 minutes from notification to disappointment time after time. We have tried to rent through Nuplace too but the rent is just simply too much for us to find each month. Don’t get me wrong we are very grateful to have a home, but so very disillusioned.