Hall Forest Residents Association: Encouraging Community Quality Living Within Kintore

View by Topic:

Mon
17
Sep '07

Greenbelt Group contractors drop to even lower standards

Just days after posting an expensively produced Customer Information Pack to over 300 homes in the Kintore area (postage alone was £1.69 per copy), produced no doubt at residents expense, Greenbelt Group contractors arrived on site for a routine visit.

We should expect high standards if we believe everything in the Homeowners Folder, but these photos taken shortly after the contractors appointed by Greenbelt Group (Netherton Plan Hire, based in Ellon) left tell the true story.

1) Unsightly and slippery clumps of rotting grass left on public footpath.

Unsightly clumps of rotting grass left on public footpath.

2) Nettles over 6 feet tall growing in a shrub bed!

Nettles growing over 6 feet in height!

 3) Uncollected litter in the shrub beds. Litter is supposed to be picked up on each site visit.

Litter in Shrib Bed

4) Overgrown shrub bed. The plants are obviously unsuitable for the shrub bed here, and have grown uncontrollably to dominate the shrub bed and giving it a unique “wild and unmaintained” look.

Overgrown Shrub Bed

5) Very badly cut grass - woth some bits where a ride-on mower can’t easly reach being left untouched. Note the walls of the house are sprayed with the grass cuttings, and unsightly clumps of grass left to rot.

Poorly Cut Grass

 Hundreds of more images showing the typical quality of the Open Area maintenance performed by Greenbelt Group can be found at the following website:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/407954@N24/pool/

You can see from the images taken over the past 2 years or so, that little improvement has been made of the qaulity of workmanship carried out. Please feel free to join the group and add your own photographs.

Sun
9
Sep '07

Greenbelt Issues discussed at Hollyrood

As you may know, a one-hour debate on Greenbelt Group took place in Holyrood recently. 
A full transcript of the debate can be found at:
Fergus Ewing, Minister for Community Safety is set to meet with Alex Middleton, MD of Greenbelt Group.
Thanks to eveyone who took time to brief their MSPs ahead of the debate - it was clear that our MSPs had mastered an excellent grasp of this complex issue, and each one did a fantastic job on our behalf.  I know that all the MSPs involved are committed to working with us to push for change - please continue to engage with them as you have been.
Action has been happening on a number of fronts in recent weeks - here is a quick overview:
  • Jim Devine MP has secured a commitment from the Chief Executive of the Office of Fair Trading that he will look into our issues.  Jim’s office has compiled a dossier of evidence on behalf of many of the estates affected - thanks to eveyone who took time to submit materials
  • Jim is also in the process of engaging with Greenbelt Group Limited via Mohammad Sarwar MP, to see if an arrangement can be reached whereby estates can replace Greenbelt Group Limited as the land manager.  More information can be found on http://www.jimdevine.org.uk/EZEdit/view.asp?MID=159
  • Jim has also written to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities [CoSLA] and the Scottish Affairs Select Committee
  • As you’ll see from the transcript of the debate, many MSPs are actively exploring routes forward for those affected by Greenbelt Group [including new legislation]
  • Scotland’s MEPs are also looking at this -  David Martin MEP has taken a sounding from the European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs regarding our avenues of redress under European and UK law - and Alyn Smith MEP is currently exploring a number of different avenues on behalf of many estates.