Bexhill builders '˜ruined garden privacy'

Neighbours on Pebsham Lane were annoyed the house-builders had created an ‘eight-foot-high’ pile of dirt at the back of their gardens with no screening.

After the Observer contacted Barratt Homes on Monday, the contractors placed a white ‘sheet’ over the wire fence on Wednesday evening.

Paul Wilkes was glad something had been done, two weeks after he first asked for some sort of screen to get his privacy back.

“I’m reasonably pleased, I suppose the greed in me thought I could get away with a fence but I can no longer see what’s going on like I used to in the garden,” he said.

“They can’t look in and I can’t see them, which is better. But it doesn’t go all the way along.”

Barratt was given planning permission to build 108 homes in May last year.

The builders have moved to the back of Mr Wilkes’ garden and others recently, meaning a lot of noise and disruption as well as spoiling the countryside views.

Paul Ingamells said they accept the houses have to be built and there will be noise, but pledged to take matters into his own hands to block out the building site.

“I’m going to buy a six-foot fence at the end of my garden as I’ve had enough of it and at a great expense unfortunately but that’s something we have got to do,” he said.

“My biggest gripe is that it’s a big company, they could put out a newsletter every week saying what they are doing.

“It has been, until now, a nice neighbourhood and we had nice gardens with barbecues in the summer but that’s all out the window now.”

Another annoyed resident, Colin Fuller, described the site as ‘horrible’ and noisy, especially in the mornings.

Before the sheet was put up, Mr Wilkes said his garden and summer house could not be used because of the disruption and lack of privacy.

The site has been fraught with complaints with many angry about the builders parking on Seabourne Road, which Mr Ingamells said is still a problem.

A Barratt spokesperson said: “Our apologies go to all local residents who may be experiencing any inconvenience as a result of our construction work at Pebsham Lane.

“We are working very hard to try and solve any immediate disturbances during this construction phase of new homes and are now in the process of installing monoflex on the relevant fence to help shield residents from the view.

“We appreciate that a further newsletter would be a helpful way to communicate with those in close proximity to the development and will be looking to organise this moving forward.

“In addition to this and due to the often unpredictable nature of building work, our door is always open to any local residents should they wish to discuss any issues specific directly with us.”

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