Four months of misery
Saturday 6th September 2008, 10:00AM BST.
FURIOUS States tenants have had to endure four months of misery inside a tower block which has been turned into a noisy, dirty building site.
Residents of the Cedars are putting up with workmen as the 1970s development undergoes a £5 million refurbishment.
Communal areas have become worksites, littered with builders’ tools and buckets and covered with a thin layer of dust from months of sandblasting.
Residents claim that their daily lives are being ruined by constant drilling and hammering by workmen refurbishing the walls and replacing windows on the 74 flats.
Last weekend, residents were left without post after a postman refused to deliver mail on health and safety grounds.
And they were also without phone lines, television pictures, water and one of their two lifts after a fire, which was unconnected to the building work, destroyed a cable network. Jersey Post confirmed that the postman believed that it was too dangerous to deliver mail, but said that normal service had since been resumed.
Pictured: Michelle Cox, who is pregnant and has another child, says simply: ‘It has been hell’
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Would the tenants have preferred to have no
refurbishments made ?
As uncomfortable as it is, I think they should be grateful, and put up with it. I know what they are talking about. I “lived” through the Le Marais
refurbishment – for which I am now very grateful.
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I sympathize with the residents, but they have to realize that at the end of the refurb there properties will be double glazed, and there walls insulated, which will save them money for heating etc. The small short term misery they suffer now is a small price to pay.
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Why don’t those states tenants dry their eyes and stop complaining. At least work to their place of residence is funded by the states. Us homeowners have to pay for maintenance ourselves.
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Ann you picked that road, you didn’t have to be a home owner
At the end of the day, vulnerable residents should have been moved out and those with young children.
I Live in La Collette, i’ve already had to have my ceiling replaced and with a small child that was a nightmare, with dust and plaster everywhere. So i am now concerned at the level of work that will be done seeing as La Collette is next.
It might just be short term misery but when you have children living there as well your more worried about their safetly and health than your own. It will be lovely once the flats are done, but it’s the misery in the mean time. Espcially if certain services are cut off, like water and the lifts. If you rely on the lifts then it’s not ideal at all and we all rely on water. Put yourself in their shoes before telling them to be grateful.
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poor loves !
perhaps we should subsidise their rent ?
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I would love to put double glazing in my property but can’t afford it, partly due to the high taxes I am paying as I work full time.
States tenants, if you don’t like the inconvenience and noise all day why not go out to work instead? Just an idea…
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It almost beggars belief that the JEP chose to give any publicity to these silly complaints! Would these tenants prefer that the Housing Department neglected the property? All householders have to endure some, often a very considerable, degree of nuisance when they (or their landlord) decide to upgrade their property. But most rational people would agree that it is better to endure this short-term nuisance than to suffer the consequences of allowing the property to fall into a state of disrepair.
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Oh dear what a shame at least you are not having to fork out for it and you have a roof over your head ! some of us would love to be housed by the wonderfull housing department and yes we are jersey born but due to circumstance beyond our control have ended up divorced and in the private sector where we have to shell out for upgrades if we want them ! its that or face approx 18mths in the hostel till housing can hopefully house us. So I say to you stop your moaning at least you have somewhere to live I would swap with you today at least you are not having to look for somewhere to live or face 18mths in one room with a 3 year old ! Oh and if anyone has a spare 2 bedroom flat/house in fact anything please can I rent it from you as I have to be out of my current temp accom by the end of next week ! thanks
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What about the private house owners of St Helier who have had to put up with months of early morning wake up calls from the work taking place in Patriotic Street Car Park. Apparently having worked hard all week we are not allowed a lie-in on a Saturday (work was PERMITTED from 8am onwards) Work often started as early as 7am, and on many nights plastic sheeting was used to cover the ‘window’ gaps which naturally blew loudly all night. Never mind that on a Friday night you won’t get to sleep till at least 4am due to drunks! Months later the work is done but alas more site notices have gone up for major construction on the building next door.
We own our houses and pay our taxes we are entitled to a break from constant noise.
Noise pollution (and that is what this is) is extremely detrimental to health and we were turning up at work every day like zombies. We even went to a hotel around the corner for a weekend (which we could ill afford) just to get a proper rest. I dread to think how those that are at home during the day must be feeling, I’ll be surprised if they haven’t gone a little insane! Needless to say I doubt 8am starts would have been allowed (especially on Weekends) if the people that made that decision lived in Century Buildings!
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I would live in a flood if it meant i paid £2 a week rent!!! After all this work is done they are going to be living in a better standard of property than most people who rent live and paying next to nothing for it!!
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Oh dear one of the lifts wasnt working, whats wrong with the other one, or is waiting for it too much of a burden.
And as for the postman, why should he deliver door to door in the first place. Unless your incapable of leaving the flat then why cant you go and collect your post from downstairs like many others have to do in none states flats.
I feel sorry for the elderly and incapacitated but how i feel about the rest of the moaners wont be posted so leave it to your imagination.
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