RESIDENTS of Aldersey Fields, off the Old Odiham Road in Alton, are at the end of their tether over Kingfisher Housing Association's failure to maintain the grounds of their 54-home development. The residents have a grounds maintenance contract with Kingsfisher which, they say, the housing association is not honouring. Residents all pay a weekly ground rent of £3 which, over the five years since the development was built, will have netted Kingfisher in the region of £35,000. But, they say, there has been little to show from it. The grounds maintenance agreement promises an average of 13 grass cuts over the 32-weeks from mid-March to the end of November, the strimming of bases of walls, fences, hedges, signs and lamp posts four times a year, the pruning of shrub beds, the cutting of hedges twice a year, the maintaining of mixed borders six times between April and October, and regular maintenance of hard surfaces, footpaths and mowing strips. The residents say a maintenance team has carried out only £500 of work over the past five years. They have had to mow the communal grass areas themselves. In recent months a grounds maintenance 'hit squad' has twice been sent to tidy up inside the development, but no work has been done to cut back the hedges on the outer perimeter. There has been concern over the footpath fronting the Old Odiham Road, which is overgrown by shrubs from the Aldersey Fields site, and the footpath that links the Old Odiham Road with Widgeons on the Wooteys estate. It is now so overgrown with nettles and brambles that the width of the footpath is diminished, making it difficult for prams and pushchairs to negotiate. Residents Sarah Hunt and Frank Richards have been campaigning for four years to get Kingfisher to address the issue. Mr Richards said: "This footpath is used by schoolchildren on their way to St Lawrence School, mums with pushchairs, college students and residents from the neighbouring estate walking into town. Children can't walk along there without fear of being stung or having their clothes or faces torn by brambles. It is deadly, especially in the dark." The bushes on the Aldersey Fields side of the footpath, which are the responsibility of Kingfisher Housing Association, have grown over the handrail, needed in the winter when the steeply sloping path becomes icy and slippery. Mrs Hunt said: "We are paying money to Kingfisher to maintain the site and they do nothing. It looks terrible and people think its our fault, but it's not." Long-term residents Josh Hatherly and Jason Matravers have both turned their hand to mowing. They are concerned over what is happening to the collective ground rent which amounts to over £7,000 a year. The householders feel aggrieved after an East Hampshire District Council roadshow van visited the development to encourage them to become aware of their environment recently. Kingfisher marketing manager Penny Luke said the housing association was in the process of changing contractors and the new team should be in place in around two weeks. She said that the old work had been down to Basingstoke and Dean Borough Council contractors and that Alton was off their normal patch. Mrs Luke said that the old contractors should have done a one-off cut of the footpath hedge around three weeks ago but the warm, wet weather would have ensured a quick regrowth. Kingfisher had also decided to send an officer to Aldersey Fields to view the situation and to organise another one-off cut of the hedge prior to the new contractors starting. But Mrs Hunt said that a hit team sent in three weeks ago cut hedges and tidied up within the site but did not touch the footpath hedge. Alton Town Council deputy town clerk Greg Burt said: "We have drawn Kingfisher's attention to the footpath. As owners of the land alongside, Kingfisher is responsible for maintaining the hedge."
