Developer addresses concerns on 'disastrous' construction in Aylesbury

Residents in the Kingsbrook area have been left frustrated with the speed and quality of the work carried out over the past two years on the allotments between village three and four on the project.

Barratt David Wilson Homes has effectively built a new housing project on Burcott Lane in Aylesbury, but people believe less care and resources have gone into building the accompanying allotments.

The developer concedes that the first contractor tasked with overseeing the project didn’t meet its high standards.

Completion of the allotment was slowed down as the developer had to seek a new team to oversee the operation, causing local frustration.

Many residents still work from home in the area and the noise and sheer scale of the project has made completing tasks and communicating with co-workers very difficult at times.

One resident told The Bucks Herald about the issues he encountered when work began on the allotments last spring: “It has been a disastrous project.

"The work was very disruptive and involved JCBs driving up and down the area repeatedly causing nearby houses to shake.

"As far as I can understand, due to their incompetence that contractor was removed from the job and another took over and did some further work in October 2021.

“Incredibly as we head into June, they are having to completely repeat all of the work again, with the previous contractors having done such shoddy work.

"I have sat in my study while working from home and endured weeks of JCBs driving up and down, shifting earth from one end of the field to the other, and then back again. Honestly, you could not make it up.”

Another point of concern is drains that aren’t actually taking in any water, the developer says it is normal practice for drains to be constructed this way until a project is finished.

Jo Alden, technical director at Barratt North Thames, told The Bucks Herald: “Unfortunately, we had to remove the original contractor hired for the construction of the allotments at Kingsbrook due to poor workmanship.

"Their work did not meet the high standards of quality we expect from our contractors and, as a five star housebuilder, we did not feel it would be satisfactory to hand over to the local authorities.

"Thankfully a new contractor is in place and they are making good progress, despite having to remediate some of the previous work undertaken.

"We apologise for any disruption this has caused and we are now working at pace to resolve this issue.

“Regarding enquiries about drainage placement at Kingsbrook, we would like to clarify that it is common practice to keep roads at a lower level until all construction activity is nearly complete.

"The final stages of work will see the road levels raised and this is not something that residents should be concerned about.

"Notwithstanding we are grateful where concerns are raised so that we can attend to them at the earliest opportunity.

"We will continue to closely monitor the situation and will resolve any issues that may arise. We are communicating with residents directly on these matters and thank them for their patience as we finalise works.”