THE faith that residents at Castle Mead have in the company that does the maintenance work on the Trowbridge estate has hit rock-bottom, after very few of their concerns were addressed at a meeting, they claim.

In the last two months, 308 residents have joined the The Castle Mead Rental Charge Scheme Facebook page. They feel they are not getting value for money from the £111.36 a year GreenSquare charges them for estate maintenance.

After concerns were raised about litter, damage to open spaces from the company’s heavy machinery, poor grass cutting and having to wait years for a new play area, a meeting was held between residents and GreenSquare representatives just before Christmas.

However, spokesman Simon Helps says none of the serious issues have been addressed in GreenSquare’s response letter.

“It is like we are completely ignored. It seems like they can do whatever they want and demand money and we are helpless,” said Mr Helps, who moved to the 670-home estate in February.

“One resident told me, ‘You wouldn’t pay a grocery bill and then leave with no groceries,’ but that is how it feels.

“Yes, it is good we had talks, but nothing has changed. They should refund us for the service that they have not provided. We want them gone. Our faith in them has hit rock-bottom.

“I refuse to pay the maintenance charge, which is actually going up £25 in a few months. I won’t pay it until we get what we paid for.”

Residents claim that if they fail to pay up, GreenSquare could put up a charging order against their homes to collect the money, meaning that they could get a bad credit record or find it hard to sell the house afterwards.

Nigel Bridge, Greensquare group head of property services, said: “We’d like to once again reassure residents we are taking their concerns seriously, and are committed to working with them to make further improvements over the coming months.” “Before Christmas, we sent a detailed update to all Castle Mead households addressing and responding to the issues raised at the meeting, along with guidelines about the frequency of grounds maintenance works, and a breakdown of the estate rent charge.

“Since then, we’ve made a number of positive steps forward, including installing new bins to tackle problems with littering; exploring the options for using more compact hedge cutting machinery to minimize damage to surrounding areas; and looking at ways to engage with the wider community to ensure the play area is respected and well used.