Residents at a seafront block of flats in Burnham-On-Sea say they feel like they have been living in a “battle zone” for five months during major building works.
Several residents at Kinver Terrace on The Esplanade are upset about loud noise at all hours of the day and night, diesel generator fumes, and say they have had also endured mobility problems caused by equipment left outside their doors.
One resident, Dave Ilsley, said: “It’s been like living in a battle zone for five months with endless noise and disruption.”
“The work began in April when the scaffolding went up and it was initially supposed to finish in early July but it’s still ongoing.”
“The scaffolding came down for the August Bank Holiday weekend but now we understand that some of it’s going back up to complete the work, much to all the residents’ dismay.”
“We feel we’ve been treated unfairly by the building’s owner, Knightstone – they are giving us 20% off the rent, but that’s small compensation for all this disruption over the whole summer.”
Mike Victory-Rowe, Assistant Director of Asset Management at Knightstone, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “In the last year, we’ve carried out extensive work to modernise the properties, which included improving insulation levels to reduce heating costs for our residents. We also repaired roofs and external walls of the properties. In total, we’ve invested approximately £850,000 in these improvements.”
“Throughout the process we’ve held regular meetings to keep our residents up-to-date on the works being carried out. The works are now nearing completion and the majority of the scaffolding has been taken down over the last fortnight. A small amount of scaffolding is needed to complete the front elevation of the properties. We have written to all residents informing them that the scaffolding will go back up for approximately one further week, followed by finishing works to complete our improvements.”
“We are pleased that these works have significantly improved the quality and safety of the flats at Kinver Terrace, and evidence our commitment to investing in our homes in the south west.”
