Latest news with #newbuild
The Sun
07-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
My lawn has been destroyed by leatherjacket bugs over winter – the £17 buy that kills them & gets grass lush again
A WOMAN has been left devastated after her lawn was ruined by leatherjackets. Remi, who lives in a new build in the UK, spent most of last year getting rid of the bugs, only for them to come back during the winter months. 3 3 Leatherjackets are the larvae of the crane fly (daddy long-legs) and live just below the surface of the lawn until they emerge as adult flies during August to October. They tend to damage the roots of the grass, making it die on the surface and create brown patches in the lawn. Remi noticed the problem when she moved into her house last year and spent a lot of time getting rid of them and making her lawn green again. But over the winter months, she neglected the problem, making it come back this summer. Taking to social media, she said: "So the leatherjacket grubs are back! "After all of my hard work last year, this is how fast it takes them to ruin a lawn. And this is what happens, unfortunately, when you don't keep up with nematode treatments in a new build garden. "I got too comfortable and I thought, they're not going to come back. And if they do, it will only be a small amount. Very wrong!" Instead of using harsh chemicals, Remi used nematodes to get rid of the pesky critters. She used a nematode solution mixed with water and applied it all over the grass. It costs just £16.99 from the Green Gardener and must be applied every six weeks. We made our boring new build garden a Love Island style haven with bar & hot tub, but trolls say detail 'ruined our day' Nematodes are tiny little insects that act like parasites to other critters and kill leatherjackets without affecting your grass. This allows your grass to grow green and lush again. Remi revealed she used the solution last year and it worked wonders. "I'm pretty confident that after all we've been through with them, that this lawn will be looking great again within a month," she added. The clip soon went viral on her TikTok account @ remiclog with over 250k views and 12k likes. People were quick to take to the comments, gutted Remi's problem had come back. One person wrote: "Does anyone know why leatherjackets target new build gardens?" "Terrible drainage and poor quality turf usually! (And the turf sits for ages before it goes down)," replied one viewer. Another commented: 'I had loads in my garden, I didn't realise what they were, I have astroturf now." "Haven't seen you on my fyp for ages! Hopefully, your garden will recover quicker now you've gained experience from last year, it may be something you need to do every year unfortunately," penned a third. Meanwhile a fourth said: "Oh no ! after all your work last year!" "i found a few in my garden this year and I'm so scared,' claimed a fifth.
BBC News
07-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
West Midlands housing estates plagued with constant problems
New build estates plagued with constant problems 13 minutes ago Share Save Chris Steers BBC Midlands Today Share Save BBC Some residents at Haden Cross have been unable to reach their homes by car since a landslip before Christmas When Reece Aleksander moved into a new-build housing estate in the West Midlands five years ago he thought he had bought his dream home. However, he said it had become a nightmare. A landslip before Christmas has blocked access to his and some other residents' homes ever since. But Haden Cross Drive in Cradley Heath also features street lights that have never worked and sewers that still have not been taken on by the water company. Developer Dunedin Homes said the landslip was not a "simple, quick or easy fix", but that it was working on a temporary measure. It added that much of the work on street lights had been completed and that sewers would be adopted "in due course". Sandwell Council said it had issued a notice requiring the privately owned road to be opened up by the end of September, adding that it hoped enforcement action would not be necessary. Reece Aleksander said he was concerned the landslip could reach his front door The landslip at Christmas saw soil and clay spill across the road and on to Mr Aleksander's drive. However, residents said subsidence in Haden Cross Drive first became evident in January 2024 when a tree fell in nearby woods. The land has shifted several times since then, with one small night-time slip caught on a camera set up by Mr Aleksander. "It definitely woke me up, shocked isn't even the word," he said. "They haven't given us a timeline, they haven't given us any reassurance that it's going to be fixed. "All we've had is a letter through the door saying there will be a temporary fix." In a letter sent to residents on 16 April, seen by the BBC, the firm said engineers had devised a temporary solution that would allow the road to be cleared of debris, but it was currently "unable to provide definitive timescales". The camera captured the moment a small landslip happened in the middle of the night Sewers at Haden Cross have yet to be adopted by Severn Trent Water, at which point their responsibility passes to the water supplier, and the developer footed a bill when they became blocked soon after homes were sold. Fellow resident Irene Taylor bought her home at Haden Cross at the same time as Mr Aleksander, and said she had yet to receive a water bill since moving in. She added that there had been long-term problems with sewers in the area. Dunedin, however, said it was "not aware of any current issues with the sewers" and that a report commissioned as part of the adoption process showed it was "operating as expected". Irene Taylor said she had not received a water bill in the five years she had lived at Haden Cross But Haden Cross is not the only estate built by Redditch-based firm Dunedin to have problems with sewers and street lights. At St Dominic's Place, in the Hartshill area of Stoke-on-Trent, residents have come up with their own novel solution to the lack of lighting over the past six years. They have attached solar-charged, battery-powered lights, similar to those found in gardens, to the metal poles in a bid to make the area safer at night. which is responsible for connecting up the street lights, said it only received an enquiry from Dunedin for that work on 28 February and final paperwork was submitted on 10 April. National Grid said it was not its responsibility to connect up those street lights, but noted that they had not been part of the original application by Dunedin in 2018. Residents Sewage covered the bank behind homes, Mr Canavan said Dan Canavan and his family moved into their new build on the street in 2019. "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," he said. "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." Stoke-on-Trent City Council successfully took Dunedin Homes to court last year and the firm was forced to pay £4,000 in fines, costs and a surcharge, the maximum available at the time, for a breach of planning permission. Severn Trent said it had inspected the sewers on 14 March and found that all "remedial works" had been completed as requested and that it would adopt them when "one outstanding point" was addressed by the developers. Dan Canavan said residents had to club together and pay for the sewerage system to be pumped out as it had not been adopted A third council in the West Midlands has also taken action against Dunedin Homes. Walsall Council issued an enforcement notice after a Labour club knocked down as part of a development at Unity Drive in Pelsall was not rebuilt in the timeframe outlined in the planning conditions. Demolished in 2015, it was meant to have been replaced within 10 months. It is now completed. A final inspection was carried out in December 2024, and it is due to be signed off by the local authority, the developer said. However, in the past 10 years the club has closed, according to the Financial Conduct Authority, and one resident told the BBC that the site had become a magnet for anti-social behaviour and vandals. Dunedin has disputed that, saying that it employed a maintenance firm to collect litter, cut grass and keep an eye on the site every two weeks. Steve Lowbridge said Pelsall Labour club had been misled Steve Lowbridge was a member of the club when the developer was looking to build 24 homes at Unity Drive. "The directors of Dunedin Homes did a presentation back in 2014. The club had been struggling for some time and they said they would knock down the old club and build a more suitable premises - what processed was exactly the opposite," he said. "The club was misled from day one, the council blamed the developer, the developer blamed the council. "My personal opinion the main culprit in all this is Dunedin Homes." Dunedin said the club was on the verge of bankruptcy and the building was in a poor state of repair before it was demolished. It said it had settled many of its debts and legal costs, "which literally saved the club". Janine Jeffery, who is listed as the club secretary, told the BBC that the project to bring the new building into use was in its "final development stages, with significant progress being made". This view, captured by a drone, shows the extent of the landslip at Haden Cross, blocking the road In a lengthy response, Dunedin said regarding the landslip at Cradley Heath there were "a number of extremely complex geotechnical factors to take account of". "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." It said the street lights there and at Hartshill were "fully ducted" and "awaiting energising". At Hartshill, it said it was liaising with about connecting those up. In Cradley Heath, Dunedin said the process of connecting street lights had been affected by one of them being "directly in front of the retaining wall that has failed" during the landslip. However, the firm failed to address the key issue raised by residents at both estates about the length of time in connecting those up, after many moved in five years ago. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
