Hyde residents plea to Santa to fix long-standing issues

'˜All we want for Christmas is... repairs to our homes'.
Residents Ray Stenning (dressed as Santa with one of the signs) and John HostlerResidents Ray Stenning (dressed as Santa with one of the signs) and John Hostler
Residents Ray Stenning (dressed as Santa with one of the signs) and John Hostler

Broken doors, emergency and ceiling lights, washing machines, locks and letter boxes hanging off are among the things Merle Court Gardens residents in Hunston have been calling on Hyde to fix since April.

Now they have put up signs to Santa around the block of flats with Christmas wish lists of the repairs they need.

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“We need help, we’ve been back to Hyde again and again but we’re being ignored,” said resident Ray Stenning, who made some of the signs.

“There are 18 flats in my block and everyone is disabled in some way.

“Security doors need fixing, door locks don’t work properly so people struggle to get in and ceiling lights are out, it’s so dangerous.”

Elsewhere, residents living in Gordon House in Chichester, which is also run by housing association Hyde, have been living with a faulty smoke alarm for five weeks.

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The alarm sounds every 20 seconds, leaving one woman in her 60s ‘without a decent night’s sleep in over a month’.

Her daughter, Cassandra Callaghan, said: “I have spent what seems like an eternity trying to sort this out as this is making my mother very ill.

“It has been like herding cats.”

Hyde has apologised to both sets of residents and said it is working on fixes.

Following the Santa notices in Merle Court, resident John Hostler said: “Residents are very unhappy that services are not being maintained.

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“I moved in 16 months ago, last year it took Hyde over four months to repair the security light outside my flat.”

Nick Melling, interim head of compliance at Hyde, said on Tuesday: “We are aware of the situation at Gordon House and Merle Court Gardens and apologise for any inconvenience the outstanding repairs have caused. We are working to rectify the situation as soon as possible and one of our supervisors is attending today to carry out further checks.”