Verinda's meadow

[Bigmallly]

Good luck Verinda & I hope something good comes out of this for you.

[Greenleaves]

Sad I know Verinda, but just another chapter in life has closed. They may remove the material memories but those in your heart will always be with you and hopefully will serve as a source of inspiration for you to start writing the next chapter of your life.

Like all people, I found loss a bitter pill to swallow but take comfort in the happy memories I will have with me for ever.

[Verinda]

I know I'm not the only one to suffer a loss like this, and reading your posts about how you all coped with a similar loss has really helped. The memories will always be with me. When we first lived next door to my parents it was absolutely brilliant for me and my family, the downside is what's happening right now. It will be terrible to see my mums garden wiped out, all that beautiful soil forever underneath a massive garage. But I will find some way to deal with it.

[Bigmallly]

You will I'm sure..............Just noticed your signature.

[Verinda]

I thought I'd update you on the goings on next door. Firstly I have the pain of seeing (and hearing) what was our much loved family home mostly reduced to rubble, the noise of a generator running from 9 till 6 accompanied by jack hammers, anglegrinders and constant lorries coming and going, much loved trees being cut down and the meadow filled with rubble, piles of junk and various machines, bits of machines, churned up mud and standing water everywhere. Chip wrappers and fast food packets strewn about, piles of rubbish blocking up every path. Damaged, half chopped trees with broken branches hanging down.

The new house is absolutely huge and it's for a middle aged with no children, my parents house had four bedrooms but apparently they needed a mansion. That however is up to them, I'm an environmentalist so don't approve of that kind of unnecessary excess.

So that's bad enough and you might think it stops there but no it gets much worse because the builders are so cheap and nasty they cut corners everywhere the worst one being they did not bother with a Portaloo...without going into any details, imagination is enough...all the results are left on the ground on the other side of our bank, we noticed a large cloud of flies, can you think of anything worse? We spoke to the boss about it, he apologised but did nothing. I've no idea how to contact the new owners and they're never there so I reported it to health and safety, but it's all so confidential they don't tell me anything, I don't know when or if they've visited the site, I was hoping it would be shut down but no such luck. Perhaps they've issued a warning who knows.

I wish someone normal had bought the property, just moved in and done it up a bit and loved all the beautiful land instead of destroying it

[WPG]

I'm so sorry to hear that Verinda, I remember your gorgeous photos of the meadow.

The description of the size of the new-build and mess around the site would be hard enough to bear, even without such an emotional tie to the old house and land. I'm not sure I can think of anything helpful to say, other than to sympathise.

[Verinda]

Thank you. There's nothing anyone can do but your sympathy is welcome as I feel quite alone in coping with it, my husband and sons don't feel the same as me, they don't have memories going back forty years I guess.

[bramble]

Verinda so sorry to hear what youre going through. People will say its only bricks and morter but it holds a lifetime of memories. I am going through a bit of a rough time myself. My sons wife told him she didnt love him anymore and it ended with him having to move out. We allowed him to move into my mothers house as she was in a nursing home.Her house is now on the market and he cannot get a mortage as he already has one.He is now facing the prospect of having to move out and a builder has put in an offer for it. My heart is broken both from my son loosing out, my childhood home being sold and wondering what this builder is going to do with it.I drive past it at least four times a week.

[Verinda]

How awful for you Bramble, I hope the builder will be more respectful than the ones we have next door, but still it will be hard to see your loved home sold and changed. Families are never easy, well not in my experience there always seems to be one trouble or another. A similar thing happened to my sister years ago but she got through it and I am sure your son will too x

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have no idea about the current regulations in Ireland it's nearly 49 years since I worked in Donegal, but here in England WC and other amenities have to be provided on all building sites and places of extended works.

It is usually the council who looks after this sort of thing not HSE and they would be all over that site like a rash.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Whoops blooper!!! things changed in 2007 I haven't worked on site since then so had no need to check. The HSE are now responsible for the provision of welfare facilities not the council.

[Verinda]

The frustrating thing is that no one seems to care, I made loads of phone calls but everyone says it's someone else's responsibility. Health and safety won't communicate with me apart from one initial phone call.

I can only hope the new neighbour doesn't decide to do some strimming...

[Jay22]

Remember those bats you told us about living in the trees?

[Potstubsdustbins]

Verinda Assuming you live in Eire the following may be of use to you.

Joint Safety Council, Dublin.

Construction Industry Federation Dublin, Construction Industry Federation - Information and Training

Their rules are that if a site is going to be working longer than 30 days as well as other facilities one WC shall be provided for every 20 employees.

[Verinda]

Thank you Pots, that is interesting, I wonder though if the building co is not a member of the CIF do they have to bother with those rules. The lot next door don't bother with hard hats or ear protectors. They didn't put down a radon barrier which I think is the law. There is a water problem on our hill, particularly bad at my parents house, but the builders haven't put in any drains so there's a moat round the new giant extension, the blocks are turning black with damp and surely the concrete can't set if its soaked? There is actually standing water inside the extension. I think the whole thing could go down like the Titanic. Oh dear the new owners will have a few problems when they move in.

Oh yes Jay, I am sure the bats are protected, I will look it up now.