‘IT is only a matter of time before someone is injured’ – that’s the view of residents on a new housing development where heavy cladding keeps falling off homes.

Houses on the Barnhill development off Drovers Way, near the Ridings Playing Fields in Chipping Sodbury, were completed in 2016.

There are more than 100 homes on the development, with at least 40 covered in heavy cement plank cladding.

Some of this cladding started to come loose and fall off over two years ago, and correspondence from worried homeowners shows that the developer, Bloor, has been aware of the issue since at least January last year.

But residents are still concerned over what they have described as a possible ‘horror-show’ accident waiting to happen.

“If it was not so serious then it would actually be laughable,” one resident, Rob Williams, said.

“You have houses with bits falling off and it seems like nobody, apart from the homeowners are actually bothered about it at all.”

Mr Williams was so concerned by the lack of action by Bloor that he commissioned a surveyor to inspect his home in September and provide an independent report on how dangerous the issues with the cladding were.

He said Bloor was provided with a copy of the survey and eventually reimbursed the cost.

“The report was pretty damning,” Mr Williams continued. “None of us care that they didn’t do it properly to begin with but what is really worrying for everyone is how little is being done to sort it out – it is becoming a bit of a horror-show.”

Bloor has hired contractors to visit the development and secure the cladding but they arrived with equipment that could not reach the highest points on many of the properties.

Residents then told the Gazette they had workers firing nails into the cladding at the lower levels.

Mr Williams contacted the provider of the long term structural warranty on the site, the LABC (Local Authority Building Control), and a representative visited the development and completed a further survey, with the results pending. The LABC can act as a mediator with development issues.

A builder recommended by the manufacturers of the cladding provided Mr Williams with a quotation which said it would cost him in excess of £18,000 to solve the issues on the outside of his home.

“There are around 40 houses with this cladding on around the whole development,” Mr Williams explained. “The cost of replacing the cladding on everything would be massive. I wonder if this is the real issue here.

“It is only a matter of time before this cladding causes damage, injury or worse.

“Bloor should be all over this but they are not doing anything like enough to solve this which is amazing because the implications are so serious, not to say dangerous.

“They haven’t delivered on their promises, they just keep side-stepping what is a really significant issue.

“It is scandalous and I am convinced that this is a national problem.”

South Gloucestershire councillor Rob Creer said: “I totally feel residents frustrations about the issues at Barnhill. I have met with homeowners several times and seen for myself their concerns.

“I met with Bloor in January to outline the problems and to try and mediate a way forward. Following that meeting they made a number of assurances about remediation work on the development.

“I have been pressing Bloor for a date for a follow-up meeting that was agreed to happen in April, however I am still awaiting a response.”

When contacted, a spokesman for Bloor said: “We have been made aware of concerns regarding a limited number of homes at the Barnhill development in Chipping Sodbury.

“We deal with customer concerns on an individual basis and are unable to comment further on this matter.”