Residents living on a new build estate have hit out at developers who promised green spaces would be turned into parks and walkways but have instead been abandoned. The estate, opened in 2016 by home construction company Taylor Wimpey, was said to "rapidly become a favourite amongst both families and first-time buyers in the region."
But people living in the estate have been left fuming by the lack of devlopment done to the greenspaces, with some branding the areas as 'wasteland'. Residents, who all wish to remain nameless, argue that the housing developer didn't live up to "the commitment they have made to all the people who bought the houses," Teeside Live reports.
One family, who moved in three years ago, said the lack of maintenance has resulted in the green areas going "to rack and ruin." Taylor Wimpey has since confirmed that the play park and walkway will be completed within the coming months, with a landscaper recently visiting the site to tackle the weeds.
One Stokesley dad said that part of the sale pitch for the development was the green space and, while he understood that during construction some of the land would be taken up, he is unhappy that it is still fully incomplete after the developer moved off-site.
He explained: "We're kind of just left with this great big expanse of what can only be described as a wasteland. It's on the back of the estate. When you come into the estate, the houses are lovely, and they all have nice gardens, it's all really nice. And then you've just got this space that's for kids to go on and to go and walk your dogs and nobody can use it.
"[One] area was going to be a play area with equipment and they were going to put a nice walkway in it, and this was all part of the plans, but it's just been left to go to rack and ruin."
He claims that, despite people coming every once and a while to deal with the grass areas, they tend "not to be done very often" and that residents are unsure what else to do as the area still remains under the control of Taylor Wimpey.
He added: "We expected that they were using some of the land to put the building material on, one of the other patches they were using for the builder's car park, and another for the car park for the show houses. They got rid of the car park and grass and treated that. The part where the showhouse was they have just left that go to waste."
Regarding the planned play park, he said: "The idea was for my kids to [use the green space] in the school holidays and stuff like that. By the time they actually get to do it, they'll all be at university! It was one of the selling points of the estate - the fact that it was going to have this common green area that was going to be able to cater to different activities.
"Ultimately there's a lot of young families that have moved onto the estate that, over the summer months when we've had the really nice weather, would've really benefitted from it. Instead, you've just got this patch of land. It's just an absolute eyesore."
Other issues that residents claim plague the estate include there being no bins for people who walk their dogs, a loose curb and lack of maintenance to the main roundabout at the entrance, and weeds that are growing on the sides of the roads.
They also added that wildflower meadows, which are located at the back of the development, are designed to be natural in appearance. A statement said: “We are sorry to hear of complaints from residents regarding some areas of our Stokesley Grange development. We are reviewing the maintenance schedule currently in place and will ensure that any necessary works are completed.
“We would like to assure residents that we are committed to delivering the play area on site. We are in ongoing discussions with the local Council in line with our Section 106 agreement and will continue to work with them to bring this forward at the earliest opportunity.”
