Promised green space incomplete after four years

Residents of a new-build development which was completed four years ago have said they were promised a community green space but it has remained unfinished.

The Midsomer Norton development, on Silver Road near Bath, was opened in Spring 2022 with the last residents moving in a few years ago.

Residents were told the green space in the complex would be completed within a year of them moving in but it remains incomplete with shards of glass being found in the grass.

Michelle Hyde, managing director at the building firm Backhouse, said: "We will do what it takes to put this right and to make sure that the community have the space that they bought into."

Jasmine Gray has lived at the development for three years and she said the spacious land and large green areas were a big part of the reason she moved there in the first place.

"It wasn't your typical housing estate," she said.

"Here we are three years later, though, still looking at a park and an open space that is unusable and not open to the public."

The area where the glass was found has now been fenced off from the public.

"For us, it's been three-and-a-half years of hell trying to get progress on when this is going to be ready to use," she said.

Another resident, Cory Hopkins, said he did not think it was safe to let his children play in the area.

"I feel like it is a dangerous space and it's unfair for the rest of the residents here who have waited four years for our children to be able to socialise and grow up as children together," he said.

Hyde said the team cared about the development and wanted to see it completed.

"I'm a local resident myself and in this area we have had a lot of unfortunate events happen on this scheme that have delayed things," she said.

She said an oil spillage, adverse weather conditions and machinery getting stuck was all part of why completion of the green spaces had been delayed.

"I'm a mother of four," she said.

"I would want my play area to be full of grass - not weeds, which it was back in June."

Backdoor has taken steps to make the space safer by lifting and cleaning the soil in the park.

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