 Stephen McPartland, has been asked for help by a Stevenage family that have been waiting seven months for Stevenage Homes to start improvements to their home and work has still not started. The family have had to clear out all their possessions and move them from one storage area to another, with many now ruined after being stored in a tent in their garden.
Stephen said “after Barbara and Andy Poole-Taberner, contacted me for help, I popped around to see the situation for myself and I was completely shocked at the way they have been forced to live. It is saddening, especially at this time, how many of their possessions have been ruined as they were stored in garages in Haycroft Road, but the Council have forced them to remove the items as they are knocking the garages down.”
The family received a letter from Stevenage Homes stating that work was due to start on 18th May 2009. The major works included a bathroom refurbishment, rewiring works and an upgraded heating system. They were asked to remove all personal effects, clear access to all areas where works were being carried out and remove all wall hung objects in adjacent rooms as certain work can cause vibration.
Barbara said “We had a phone call in the summertime from somebody at Apollo, who said now your electric, heating and bathroom have been done we can do your kitchen for you. My reply to him was "pardon you have not done anything yet". After a few minutes on his computer he said "Oh yes that is right well you can have your kitchen done as well. Darren Fraser the Project Manager from Apollo then came round and told us the Kitchen would be the first thing to be done and we now have to empty the Kitchen of all equipment (where am I supposed to put it)”.
Stephen added “the daughter who is supposed to be studying for her A-levels amongst all this mess, has her clothes in boxes and is sleeping on a mattress. This is an absolute disgrace and cannot be allowed to continue. Stevenage homes needs to get a grip of this situation fast and undertake the refurbishment works immediately.
I am very concerned that this may not be an isolated case and there may be other families in Stevenage having to live like this. Unfortunately, this is yet another local example of someone ticking boxes to meet a government target and completely ignoring the impact this has on the families behind those figures”. | 
