RESIDENTS in Trowbridge are again in dispute with a housing association that manages the maintenance on their housing estate.

Castle Mead estate residents have complained many times about work done by Chippenham-based GreenSquare.

Through its subsidiary GreenSquare Estates, the housing association manages all the Castle Mead green areas deemed as public open space.

Residents pay an estate rent charge of £111.36 a year to GreenSquare for these services but some feel they are not getting value for money.

They say the 650 homes on the Castle Mead estate collectively pay more than £100,000 a year in estate charges to GreenSquare but are failing to receive the maintenance that residents deserve.

They claim GreenSquare has failed to fix or seal off a piece of damaged play equipment, that litter bins are overflowing, and that no provisions have been made to protect children from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

They have urged South Wiltshire MP Dr Andrew Murrison to support their complaints about GreenSquare’s alleged failure to undertake the work.

One resident, Stewart Benford, said: “The new GreenSquare CEO refuses point blank to engage with us or fix the issues. If we don’t pay we get sent threats of being taken to court.

"GreenSquare have stipulated they will ban me from sending emails if I continue to complain.

“Our MP can confirm he has had a considerable amount of emails from residents constantly calling out poor work by GreenSquare. We are stuck with an unregulated scheme not fit for purpose.

“I have again asked the CEO of GreenSquare to attend the site but to date have received no commitment to do so.”

Andrew Rossiter, estates services manager at GreenSquare, said: "We always take complaints from residents seriously.

"Our customer care team has been in regular contact with Mr Benford over the past few months and has been working closely with him to respond to the issues he has raised with us.

“We have recently been made aware of three pieces of play equipment that have been broken or vandalised.

"Two of these pieces were initially taped off and then repaired within a week of finding out about them, while a third piece is currently taped off and due to be investigated by our play area inspector during a visit next week."

Mr Rossiter added: "The health and safety of residents is our top priority. Both the play areas were reopened in line with government guidelines, and prior to their reopening were all cleaned very thoroughly.

"Additionally, signs advising social distancing, hand-washing and other safety recommendations have been fixed to play area entrances.

"Unfortunately, we have seen a huge increase in the amount of littering in the area, with people making the most of the outdoor spaces available to them."

“In order to help with this problem, we installed an extra three bins on site, and doubled our weekly bin collections. Sadly, we are still seeing litter being left at an alarming rate.

“We would urge those using the public open spaces at Castle Mead to take their litter home with them, so that we can work together to maintain a nice environment for people to enjoy."