A South Tyneside dad says he's at breaking point after a four-year wrangle over the back garden at his 'perfect family home'.
And Anthony Dixon claims that his four-year-old son, Jay, who was diagnosed with autism after the family moved into their newly-built home in Hebburn, is 'caught in the middle' of a row with Barrett Developments North East, who built the detached house.
Mr Dixon, 34, who is a physiotherapist as Sunderland and South Tyneside NHS Trust, says that sensory play is vital for little Jay, but his outdoor toys remain unused as he and his wife, Nichola, dare not let their son into the garden of the £238,000 house, which they say they chose specifically because it was west-facing and they thought would be perfect for their son to grown up in.
Read more: Morpeth pensioners claim luxury retirement apartment is 'damp and smelly nightmare'
Four years after moving into the Bedewell Court property, on the site of the former Bedewell Industrial Estate, the couple's lawn has been lifted and re-laid three times because of flooding issues, which Mr Dixon claims have been made worse by new homes surrounding his being built on sites four feet higher than his garden.
"When we moved into the property, the grass was placed on top of rubble, glass and other items which were not safe for a child to play in," said Mr Dixon. "I asked Barratts to relay the turf and while they did it I also asked for it to be levelled as it was sloping towards the house and flooding the patio. They did this but they did not add any topsoil which meant that my grass was laid on pure clay.
"Barratts contractors then fitted drainage into the garden but proceeded to cover this with the same clay they had initially removed. Then Barrett built further homes facing my garden and they slope towards my property, so now not only does my garden have rain water to cope with but three other gardens drain into mine. In the summer, even a neighbour using a sprinkler can result in our garden flooding."
However Barrett Homes North East said there was no defect with the family's garden. As spokesperson said: "We are sorry that Mr Dixon is not satisfied with his garden. Since Mr. Dixon moved into his home in 2018, we have carried out levelling works, installed additional drainage and commissioned an independent inspection of the garden to identify any further issues. While this inspection showed no drainage problems, it did make some recommendations, which we were also happy to carry out. Recent heavy rainfall has since resulted in water collecting on Mr Dixon’s garden. We have offered to further inspect the drainage and to pay for the turf to be relayed. We understand how important it is for Mr. Dixon and his family to be able to enjoy their garden, and we want to work with him to resolve this matter.”
But although Barrett Homes has offered to inspect the drainage again and relay the turf, Mr Dixon says he has given up relying in the company's to solve the issue. "We have lost all faith in Barratts and their contractors given that they have tried three times to correct the issues and each time made things worse," he said. "I have asked to be compensated the money so that I am able to go away and rectify the issues privately from a company who have already provided a quote for the work. Barratts simply state that they will not give me any money.
"In desperation, we applied for Disabled Facilities Grant from South Tyneside Council to cover the cost of repairing the garden, but we have twice been turned down because the council says the work is Barrett's responsibility. We really are at the end of our tether with this - we have given Barrett three opportunities to rectify the situation, so I don't think we are being at all unreasonable asking for them to pay for an independent contractor to carry out the work they are clearly unable to do.
"The council isn't interested, even though Jay is disabled and the garden is dangerous for him. He requires the garden on a daily basis to help him with sensory processing problems but it is constantly flooded with horrible dirty muddy water, some of which is stagnant due to its inability to drain away. This is a massive health risk to my son who tends to put a lot of objects in his mouth and obviously stagnant water is perfect for lots of bacteria."
A spokesman for the council said: "We appreciate the difficult situation the family find themselves in and are sympathetic. The garden is not useable for any person regardless of age or disability due to the poor drainage. This is a maintenance issue and the responsibility of fixing this lies with the company which built the house. We have offered to provide the family with information and recommendations to take back to the house builder to encourage them to rectify the situation."
Mr Dixon said: "Nobody seems to care about the little boy who is caught in the middle of this mess. The issues have been raised with the site manager, contract managers, head of customer care and Barrett managing director and they have all been made aware of Jay's need to play outside. They just don't care."
Now read:
- Man forced to 'walk the streets' after being too scared to live in mouldy Newcastle flat
- Heaton mum's worry as mould grows in 13-year-old son's room after roof repair takes months
Calls for tighter controls as 1.4 tonnes of illegal vapes seized in the North East
- Cost of living: A five-step plan to get debt free in 2023
- How to work out how much your heating costs per hour
