Seafront works dust angers residents

DUST from the Next Wave build on the seafront has angered local residents who complained repeatedly this week of inconvenience and dirt.

Edward De-fry, of Dalmore Court, Marina, described it as “just unbelieveable”.

He claimed brown grit had not only covered his balcony front and back, but had blown inside his flat.

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He said it was obvious this came from the building site and blamed lack of correct procedure such as failure to cover skips with tarpaulins or hosing down dirty tyres on machinery.

He said: “The Health and Safety department should be informed about this. There are a lot of elderly people in the block with breathing difficulties.

“All the brickwork is brown now. it is depressing. This time of year you want to open windows, but we can’t. I can’t see what measures they are taking to stop this happening.”

Florabel Thorogood, from the same block, also contacted the Observer to say her balcony was “knee-deep in sand”.

She added: “It looks a bit like the Sahara desert.”

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Other complaints came from June Medley, from Little Common, who wanted to know when the “ever present bomb site” around the DLWP would be gone, and Diane Pearson of Lismore Court, who highlighted black plastic sheeting from the site blowing across the road onto a passing car windscreen as well as hitting cycists and pedestrians.

Rother District Council leader Cllr Carl Maynard said: “The contractor, Neilcott Construction Ltd, is aware of the problem caused by dust on the seafront and the council sympathises with those people who have been affected.

“In the most severe cases, staff from the contractors have visited residents and cleaned up the worst of the dust. This has met with a positive response from people. Representatives from Neilcott have agreed to meet with a small group of nearby residents who still have concerns.

“The problem has been substantially reduced by contractors stepping-up the amount of ‘wetting’ on the dry-ground when it became apparent there was an issue with large amounts of dust. A large water bowser is on site and is being used on all areas - the contractors are doing everything possible to limit the amount of dust created.

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“As a result, there is far less dust compared to how it was previously. The issue has unfortunately arisen due to the driest spring for a hundred years, coupled with extremely high winds - while the problem has been greatly reduced, there needs to be a degree of understanding that the contractor is working within the constraints of these exceptional weather conditions.”