Stoney Manor residents feel 'abandoned' by the developers and contractor

Residents of a housing estate in Derry’s Waterside said they have been “abandoned by the developers and the contractor”.

Speaking to The Derry News, one of the Stoney Manor residents, all of whom wished to remain anonymous, described the Z Property estate as “unfinished”.

“As you can see, the roads and pavements throughout what has been built of Stoney Manor so far are in a terrible state. They have not been surfaced properly and they are not at the correct levels,” he said.

“There are manhole covers, access covers and gratings sitting several inches proud of road and pavement surfaces, which makes driving in the estate difficult, if not dangerous. They are also a tripping hazard for walkers, especially the many young children who live here.

Badly surfaced roads in Stoney Manor leading to pot holes.

“In addition, some of the roads are so badly surfaced, they have already developed potholes - another nightmare for drivers. There is also moss growing on some of the roads, one of which is so narrow it doesn’t even have a footpath. Stoney Manor is a new estate but already it looks like it has been up about ten years.

“And because the roads have not been finished correctly, they have not been adopted, which means, for example, that bin lorries, street sweepers and gritters do not come into Stoney Manor. We have to take our bins out to the edge of the estate for collection, instead of being able to leave them outside our house like other people.

“Don’t get me wrong, our actual homes are beautiful but the infrastructure is unsatisfactory and needs rectified, detracts from Stoney Manor.

“As well as the two unfinished or non-existent green play areas we were promised on the original site plan, not all of the homes have been built either. Essentially, the front of Stoney Manor is an abandoned building site. You are looking at a dump instead of lovely new homes. When I moved here, I thought I would be living in a finished development and the beginning of a new community. We all wish Z Property would communicate clearly with us and let us know when the remaining homes will be built and the footpaths and road will be properly finished,” said the Stoney Manor resident.

Stoney Manor: Unfinished development.

In a statement to The Derry News, managing director of Z Property, Scott Kennedy, described Stoney Manor as a “fantastic development”.

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“We are very keen to finalise the development at Stoney Manor and are as frustrated as many of the existing homeowners,” said Mr Kennedy. “Unfortunately we are awaiting approval from our funders to recommence work.

“There have been issues with the funder over the last year and we are actively working to attract new funders with local knowledge to allow us to complete this excellent development. We remain committed to the scheme, however, our hands are tied by the funders.

“Hopefully we will be able to attract the necessary funder to allow for a speedy conclusion to the work on site.

“We appreciate that the ongoing pause is causing some unease with the existing owners but we can assure them that we are working as hard as possible to bring the project to a close. It is a fantastic development and we hope to re-open the site shortly,”