Newbuild estate residents' £400,000 homes have been cut off for more than six months after TWO landslides - with earth and rubble piled up just feet from their front doors
People in Haden Cross Drive, in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, were unable to park on their driveways after earth and rubble tumbled across the street just metres from their front doors.
A temporary sandbag wall was built following the landslip last March but it collapsed after days of heavy rain just before Christmas.
Newly released CCTV shows the moment tonnes of earth smashed through the barriers and across the road.
The landslip blocked access to 12 homes, forcing residents to once again leave their cars on nearby streets and walk through the rubble to enter their properties.
Locals say they are still unable to park outside their homes six months later while they continue to wait for the rubble and earth to be moved.
The estate is privately owned by Dunedin Homes but residents claim no one is taking responsibility for the issues.
They say the estate at one point became plagued with drainage problems before the first landslide, which they claim was caused by rubble caught in the system.
The problem has been made worse by a lack of street lighting on the almost five-year-old estate which despite being installed has yet to be turned on.
Reece Aleksander, 33, said residents felt abandoned and feared the problems on the estate would never be resolved.
The engineer, who lives with his wife Georgia and their baby, said: 'We've been given no indication of when it will be sorted ever since our MP got involved in December.
'It's all been a load of nothing.
'They [Dunedin Homes] apparently have a plan in place for a temporary fix.
'We've been told it's going to be a gabion wall but we haven't been given a timeframe.
'It's a nightmare. When I step outside my house we've just got this big mound of dirt to look at.
'Even going up onto my lawn I can still see this big mound of dirt.
'I literally said to my wife that I hate living here. We bought a newbuild under the impression that there wouldn't be any issues, maybe a few snags.
'But instead I'm having to deal with this. It's just too much.'
He added: 'There was a blockage in the drains and a really bad smell.
'Some people also had backed up water coming up through their toilets and sinks.
'When we complained to Dunedin, they blamed the residents and said the blockages were wet wipes and sanitary products being flushed down the toilets.
'However, when the drains were cleared they were full of rubble, silt and building materials.'
Reece says the stress of not knowing if another landslip could occur has triggered a decline in his mental health.
He added: 'My mental health has gone down the toilet basically. The stress of seeing it and wondering if any more are going to come down into my garden.
'It's just become an absolute joke.
'They still can't get their cars onto the drivers. Through the winter it was bad. Trying to get a pushchair or anything near that soil is impossible.'
Sandra Whitall, 77, says the situation has been that severe that her and her husband Glyn are looking to move.
The grandmother added: 'We've lived on this estate for six years in October and we want to leave.
'We've had loads problems that they've never come and finished.
'A lad who lives past the landslip has had a leak in his drainage pipe for about 12 months.
'We tried to sell our house about 12 months ago before the landslip but it wouldn't sell.
'We had to put a kitchen in when we moved in as it wasn't right, it was a disgrace.
'There are holes along the path. It's a mess.'
Sandwell Council have given the housing firm until September to clear the road and have threatened taking enforcement action.
Retired restaurant owner Irene Taylor, 82, says she is also desperate to move.
She said: 'I've lived here five years. I've got a nice house, design and garden but I'm not too happy with the builder.
'There were cracks in the bathrooms. Everyone I've spoken to has a problem within their homes.
'The drains were all wrong, either too high or too low. When it rains it's washing all the sand in the drain.
'I've got five cars blocking my footpath and no one can get by with a pushchair.
'The lady up the top of the road had a fall trying to get over the earth from the landslip.
'At night we also live in the pitch black because of the lack of working street lamps.
'I'm hoping to sell up. It was supposed to be a home to relax in.'
Dan Canavan and his family moved into their new build in St Dominic's Place in 2019 and said sewage began overflowing into their street.
He said: 'We had a big problem last year with a collapsed drain on a street up from us and it was causing backfill issues on our estate.
'Severn Trent wouldn't accept that we were on their system - we had to all pay together I think £700 to have 13,000 gallons removed from the system.
'We had raw sewage running down the fields behind us as a result of it.'
Sandwell Council said it was in 'contact with the developer.'
A spokesperson said: 'Even though the land is not owned by the council we have, however, been in ongoing contact with the developer to check what action the management company responsible for maintenance and repair is taking to rectify the problem.'
Dunedin told BBC News there were 'a number of extremely complex geotechnical factors to take account' of the landslip at Cradley Heath
'We have sought to update the residents at each key juncture of our remedial plans,' it said.
'We are continuing to liaise with our solicitors and engineers to identify and implement a permanent remedial solution at the soonest opportunity.'
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The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- The Guardian
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BBC News
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The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
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