Council inefficiency at our expense

November 3rd, 2006 Written by barry

What starts out as a small job always seems to turn into mission impossible. What began as a 5 hour job, turned into over 10 weeks. Yes, thats correct TEN WEEKS!… and it still hasnt been fully resolved.

This story reads like a book of excuses, arrogance, ignorance and one person not communicating with another person correctly. The left hand truly doesnt know what the right hand is doing.

It all started about 10 weeks ago when my father had his gas fire switched off, due to the fact his chimney was not in a suitable condition to allow fumes to escape correctly (wont bore you with the technicalities). The result of this was his fire was disabled, a warning sticker slapped across it and he was told to call the council (people call it Wulvern Housing, i still refer to it as The Council… old habits!).

Upon calling the council to explain the situation and rectify the problem, my father was told that somebody would come out to look at the job and in the meantime, scaffolding would be erected to allow the workers to carry out the work safely. Fair enough….

However, from that point on, everything goes downhill… fast! The company (Atlas, who must have a contract with the council) came and erected scaffolding outside the house. However, after several phone calls later to arrange a date when the workers were coming to do the work, it turns out the scaffolding was not erected in the correct manner for the job, and had to be re-erected. Ok, this isnt the councils fault… but it took them approximately 3 weeks to establish this fact. Thats 3 weeks worth of scaffolding rental (and i know this isnt cheap as i had my roof done recently too). So, when the guys arrived to sort out the scaffolding, another section was erected across the roof leading to the chimney. Now, with this done, you would have thought there would be a level of urgency to get this job done. First of all, the scaffolding is sitting there just costing money and secondly, my dad has had this eye-sore stuck outside his house for weeks. Not to mention the fact that the chimney still hadnt even been looked at properly.

Several phone calls later and a guy turns up to “inspect the scaffolding” and supress my fathers unhappiness at their lack of progress. It is at this point, the guy admits he wasnt aware that the scaffolding hadnt been there so long and also wasnt fully aware of all the problems. Ok, looks like we MAY be getting somewhere.

So, a few phone calls and 9 weeks later, the workers turned up to carry out the work. To be fair to the workers, they were absolutely spot on. They carried out the work efficiently, to a high standard and were very pleasant and almost apologetic for the debacle so far. One of the guys even returned next morning to fix a paving slab that had been disturbed by the scaffolding. He said he would, and we were sceptical at this point, but true to his word, he turned up and replaced the slab and firmed up the ones surrounding it. Now THATS the kind of person the council needs more of.

You would think its all done and dusted right? Wrong! As a result of the scaffolding resting on the roof, several slates were damaged and needed to be replaced. Now, the same chap who fixed the chimney and replaced the slab appeared again, to to his word, with an armful of slates and repaired the damage caused to the roof. However, it was at this point that he noticed the roof was in a bad state of repair and needed replacing. Great! So, having had scaffolding stuck outside the house for over 10 weeks, we now needed scaffolding erecting AGAIN (at more cost!) to replace the roof! Marvelous isnt it!

 

“It all needs replacing”

 

 

So having discussed this with the worker (who again, was more than helpful), he agreed he would report it when he gets back to the office that day… which he did. Now in the meantime, my dad was out in the garden as a slate comes crashing down missing him narrowly. So its back on the phone again, on a saturday afternoon admittedly, to fix a gaping hole in the roof, caused by a slate slipping off.

The council were less than helpful when told that there was a hole in the roof and it was beginning to rain. If thats not an emergency, then what is? My father was told by the rather rude person he spoke to, that people dont come out weekends but any damage caused by flooding would be paid for by the council. So prevention ISNT better than cure then?

 

 

“… dont worry, we will pay for all the repairs if your roof becomes flooded”

 

 

Essentially, he was told that a man coming to replace the slate was too costly, but just let the rain damage your ceiling and bedroom and we will pay for you to have it all repaired. I wonder which would cost more? In the end, my father ended up calling a local building company £20 to replace the slate. So, for the sake of £20, rebuilding a ceiling and decorating the room was a viable option? Im sure the local council tax and rent payers would be happy to know where their money goes!

The council seems to lack the common sense and “joined up thinking” to try and be more efficient in their work. All you get when you call them is the “team leader” (posh word for supervisor) is out at the moment and i’ll call you back. Suprisingly, they never do. No wonder people get fed up with this type of attitude. The council seem to forget they exist to serve the community, not serve themselves. Its almost like asking them to do their job is too much trouble.

Entry Filed under: Local News & Views