Dad-of-five living in caravan on his driveway in protest at 10-YEAR wait for council house repairs
A DAD found an unusual way to protest over his 10-year- wait for the local council to carry out repairs at his house- by living in a caravan on his driveway.
Trev Fairminer, 65, who lives in a bungalow on Longcliffe Road in Shepshed, Leicestershire, claims he has e-mailed Charnwood Borough Council thousands of times in the past ten years, asking them to fix damages at the property.
The dad-of-five decided to protest the council's inaction by living in a caravan on his driveway last March, reports Leicestershire Live.
Mr Fairminer had previously told the outlet he was hoping his move would make the council take action.
But despite his repeated requests, he says that little work has been done at the council-owned bungalow.
He: ''I’ve sent the council thousands of emails. It’s just unbelievable.
''I’ve emailed all of Charnwood Borough councillors and all the various departments and they’ve just not moved themselves.
''I’ve just had enough, I’m not in the best of health. I have osteoarthritis, I have heart problems for which I’ve been taking pills for thirty-odd years now. I’ve got two lots of high blood pressure pills.
''This has absolutely done me in. I should never have been left here in this position for ten years with them in full knowledge of this.''
The 65-year-old, who is also a grandfather of four, has displayed posters in his window and set up a TV screen to showcase the cracks in the walls.
Meanwhile, the council says it has offered alternative accommodation to Mr Fairminer and is still discussing with him the issues.
'NOTHING HAPPENS'
He added: ''Someone will come out for two or three months and then it’ll all change again and someone else will come out for 2/3 months.
''They’ll make a load of promises and then go away and nothing happens. It’s been like this all the way through.''
Last year, Mr Fairminer was told that the work would start after a structural engineering report is completed.
Although the report was submitted last April the dad says that little work has been done so far.
Mr Fairminer has been placed in temporary accommodation by the council who said he would be back home within two months of the work starting.
He said: ''You’ll be surprised by how many people who have never spoken to me before now stop and speak and go ‘is that in there’ and I’ll say ‘yes’ and they say ‘that’s appalling’ and I say ‘it’s been like it ten years, I’ve been at them ten years’.
''There have actually been several people here who said ‘good luck mate, because we’ve been waiting for repairs for four years’ and ‘we’ve been waiting for six years’.
''So it looks like half the street are waiting for them.''
A Charnwood Borough Council spokesperson said: ''We received a report from Mr Fairminer about cracks appearing at his home in July 2018.
''Plastering work was undertaken however following reports of continued problems at the property, a structural engineer was appointed in 2019.
''The movement at the property was monitored over a period of time and it was determined that structural works were needed to the property.
''In order for this structural work to take place, Mr Fairminer was advised that he would need to move out of the property on a temporary basis.
''Since November 2020, we have offered Mr Fairminer five different properties.
''Mr Fairminer refused four of these properties. Alongside this, we also offered to take care of arrangements to help Mr Fairminer make the temporary move.''
Mr Fairminer responded that one of the properties he had been offered was a first floor flat, unsuitable for his health complaints.
The spokesperson added: ''Mr Fairminer agreed to move to an alternative property in June 2021, however by this point, the contractor was no longer available to complete the work. We made Mr Fairminer aware of this at the time he moved.
''A new contractor has recently visited his home to quote for the work and we will continue to provide Mr Fairminer with regular updates.''
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