ANGRY residents have lambasted a “diabolical” developer after green open spaces in their neighbourhood were left overgrown and cracks appeared in pathways.

Homeowners in the Hanbury Park estate in Droitwich are livid at Persimmon Homes, claiming the firm has allowed the area to fall into disrepair.

Public open spaces are like jungles, trees are falling into the river and damaged pavements are an “accident waiting to happen”, according to the disgruntled community.

But Persimmon Homes insists it has contracted a professional landscaping team to maintain open spaces and states its staff are working hard to build positive relationships with locals.

Wychavon District Council however disagrees and has expressed its “deep disappointment” at the company’s “poor” maintenance of the open spaces.

The stand-off between the community and the developer stems back to 2007.

Residents claim the housebuilder did not comply with planning consent conditions and then obstructed the process of roads and open spaces being adopted by councils.

Persimmon has failed to transfer land or make a payment to Wychavon District Council – steps which would enable the council to take on responsibility for grounds maintenance – while roads have also not been adopted by Worcestershire County Council.

This wrangling has left residents in despair.

Vic Medhurst, neighbourhood watch coordinator on the estate, said: “The open spaces are completely overgrown – they are a real eyesore and it is very frustrating.

“Shrubs and weeds are out of control and trees are need in pollarding.

“Badly maintained trees are falling into the river and damaging a riverside pathway, causing big cracks in the tarmac which pose a dangerous health hazard to children and elderly people alike.

“These are a bad accident waiting to happen.

“House prices are being negatively affected because of the jungle-like open spaces and people are even having to take out indemnity insurance due to the roads – Mallard Place and Swan Drive - remaining un-adopted.

“It has got to the point where residents are really cross at Persimmon Homes and have had enough.

“I’ve always tried to deal with them in a professional, polite manner but they have been completely incompetent in my opinion.

“The staff have been diabolical and the way the firm has acted has been completely and utterly wrong.”

He added that residents, who had delayed going to the media for eight years, felt compelled to go public after Persimmon Homes applied to build 265 houses in nearby Yew Tree Hill.

Mr Medhurst, of Mallard Place, said: “We don’t want people at the proposed new estate to go through the nightmare we have been through.

“Morally I don’t think they should be allowed to develop the new estate.”

But Andy Peters, managing director at Persimmon Homes South Midlands, has defended the company’s approach.

He said: “Maintaining a good relationship with the communities that we work in and the local authorities that we work with is extremely important to us and we work hard to manage any issues that may arise throughout the lifespan of our projects.

“In the case of the open space at Hanbury Park we engaged a professional landscaping team to maintain the area twice a month throughout the growing period and I can confirm that the area was last maintained on Wednesday, September 30.

“Furthermore we are currently in discussions with members of the residents committee and Wychavon District Council to find a positive resolution for all parties involved and once agreed the adoption of the public open space will then trigger the official adoption of all other unadopted areas including the roads.”

Heather Peachey, projects and development officer at Wychavon District Council, said: “We are incredibly frustrated that we have not yet been able to adopt this piece of land in order to provide the people on the Hanbury Park estate with the necessary improvements to the open space that they were promised and so desperately want.

“Persimmon’s solicitor confirmed to us back in June that the legal transfer had been signed and they were ready to proceed. Since then we, and representatives from the local residents’ association, have been chasing the developer but no further progress has been made.

“To finalise the transfer of the land, Persimmon need to make a payment to us.

“The areas of public open space have been poorly maintained by the developer so once we own the land we will have to undertake extensive clearance and landscaping work to start to bring them back up to standard.

“We remain as deeply disappointed as the homeowners on the estate about this situation and we hope that Persimmon will fulfil their side of the agreement without any further delay.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council added: "We continue to work closely with Persimmon Homes to progress the adoption of highways within phase two of the Hanbury Park development."