A GROUP of business people in Bentley village who have been struggling over the past six-and-a-half weeks with sewerage improvement works outside their premises are accusing Linden Homes South of failing to acknowledge the impact on their livelihood.

Cut off by safety fencing around a lengthy stretch of roadworks, the constant noise of pumps and drills, the stink of sewage, contractor vehicles and traffic lights, they believe customers are being driven away due to the difficult access, the impression of being closed for business, and the disruption.

Already struggling due to the uncertain economic climate, they claim earnings for August have suffered an unsustainable hit – and yet no one from Linden Homes has come to see them to discuss the roadworks or how the impact could be mitigated.

The work is associated with Linden Homes’ new 37-home development at Somerset Field on nearby Hole Lane and, the group claims, constitutes a breach of planning. A Grampian condition on the development, known as Archers Green, ordered that none of the new homes should be occupied until work had been undertaken, on and off site, to improve the sewerage system. But it is understood that some of the properties are already in use.

While understanding that the work has to be done, the owners and managers of the pub, the shop and post office, the hairdressing salon and the Tandoori restaurant, all affected by the roadworks, did not know when they were going to take place, and did certainly not expect them to take nine rather than the three weeks anticipated to complete.

Nor did they expect them to be outside their premises on London Road – the main road through the centre of the village and some distance from the development on Hole Lane.

Edward Spice, landlord of The Star Inn, and property owner Matt Luard have tried to encourage Linden Homes to come and explain their plans and to talk about how they could mitigate what has become an unacceptable impact on the village business community, but to no avail.

With delivery lorries threatening not to deliver beer and pressure on to buck the trend of pub closures, having recently taken over at The Star, Mr Spice says he needs to put his energy into running the pub, not worrying about sewerage works.

He has described Linden Homes as “the big man riding roughshod over the little man” and cannot understand how the company could have treated the village community with such apparent contempt.

Sally Cousins, who runs the shop and who has also had problems with deliveries and older folk being unable to access the premises, claims that takings have been down over the past five weeks by the equivalent of the wages bill, while hairdresser Jo Cussons says takings have definitely dropped compared with the same time last year.

They are angry, not so much about the inconvenience but about the lack of information. They say they were not informed that the work was going to take place, and that while the contractors set up unannounced on site on July 17 they did not start work until August 4 on a job that was supposed to take three weeks but which, they say, is likely to take nine.

And then it will move along the road, to just outside the village pond, in time for the start of the school term, and interfering with the area where parents park on the school run.

With Linden Homes selling their new properties on the back of a sustainable rural location with good village amenities, they feel they are being used as a selling point but that Linden Homes has shown total disregard for the damage being caused to their businesses. And that they have a good case for demanding compensation.

Parish councillor John Fuller said: “The village of Bentley is trying to encourage local business, but this is just killing it.”

While failing to address the subject of compensation, Linden Homes South has apologised for the inconvenience caused to local businesses and says that it is looking at ways of reducing the noise and the speed of completion.

In a statement, it said: “As part of the infrastructure improvements associated with the new homes, it was necessary to upgrade the existing sewer pipes along the (old) A31, which require the closing of part of the highway. We provided an update to Bentley Parish Council when these works were due to start in July, however there has since been a delay in commencing the works. While the upgrades were initially targeted for completion in August, unfortunately delays have been experienced due to the need to move a bus stop and install further road signage. Our contractors have confirmed that the works will be completed by the end of September.

“Both East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) and Thames Water have agreed in principle to the variation of one of our planning conditions, which means that these works must be completed prior to the 12th house occupation. It is important to note that there will be no adverse impact on the local sewerage network due to the delay in these upgrades being made.”

EHDC has confirmed that a planning application is currently under consideration concerning this variation.