Pensioner's life been made a misery by dust from new housing development

A pensioner whose garden backs onto the site of new housing development at the former Castleford, Normanton and District Hospital says her life is being made a misery by severe dust.
Maureen Parrott.Maureen Parrott.
Maureen Parrott.

Maureen Parrott, 81, has lived at Lumley Street in Castleford for 40 years and said the dust from the demolition and breaking down of material from the old hospital has made a mess of her house and exacerbated a chest condition she has.

Reward offered after thieves steal war hero’s box of memoriesShe said: “Everything is thick of dust, even cars in drives on the other side of the road from me, everything is full of dust and muck.

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“I would like the developers to speak to us to tell us what is happening and to put things right when they have finished.

A development at the end of her garden has left piles of rubble and dirt is making a mess of her house/gardenA development at the end of her garden has left piles of rubble and dirt is making a mess of her house/garden
A development at the end of her garden has left piles of rubble and dirt is making a mess of her house/garden

“Will they compensate us for the problems we have had and or have someone to clean our houses so the paintwork is put back to normal?

Bogus gas callers steal £400 from pensioner“That’s all I want. I want peace of mind, I want to know what is happening and what they are going to do about all this.” She said the dust spreading problem became worse when bits of material from the hospital site were broken down into smaller pieces with machines that were positioned at the edge of her garden next to two towers of rubble.

A spokesman for Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire, said: “We are constantly monitoring the situation on Lumley Street and are working closely with our contractors, the Local Authority and Environment Agency.

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“The initial crushing stage of the demolition is set to be completed by the end of next week and our demolition contractor has had several meetings with residents on the site’s progress.

Building Woes: Maureen Parrott in her garden, which backs on the site of a new development.Building Woes: Maureen Parrott in her garden, which backs on the site of a new development.
Building Woes: Maureen Parrott in her garden, which backs on the site of a new development.

“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the dust, though we are doing all we can to limit its impact by using extensive dust suppression equipment.” Graham West, Wakefield Council’s acting service director for planning, transportation and highways, said: “The summer conditions have created difficulties for developers to suppress dust due to the extremely dry conditions.

“We are aware of issues on this site and are working with the developers to reduce the impact.”