A city landlady has claimed Dundee City Council’s maintenance programme has led to insects infesting her flat, forcing the tenant to move out.
Blocked gutters at the tenement block in Kemnay Gardens, which have moss and weeds growing in them, have resulted in bugs crawling through the landlady’s top-floor flat.
Karen Webster says she called in pest control contractors who told her they could do nothing because the infestation was caused by the blocked gutters.
She says the local housing office has been ”unhelpful and unsupportive” and says she was told the gutters were last cleared by the council in 2007.
Under their maintenance programme, the block is not due to be cleared again until 2017, and despite the bug infestation the work can only be carried out under ”due process,” a housing officer told her.
”My tenant has been forced to move out as a result of the bug infestation caused by congested gutterings,” she said. ”There are insects living and breeding in the wall cavities and eaves of the building, and last week my tenant noticed insects crawling in the corner of the wall in the lounge and underneath the window frames in the lounge and in the kitchen.
”I called in a contractor to look at the infestation and he advised that there was nothing they could do as the cause was due to the guttering being completely blocked with moss, weeds and other debris. You can see it from the roadside and it’s also the case along the length of the street.
”The infestation can only be treated once the guttering is clear, otherwise the insects will return, the contractors told me. I got a second opinion from Rentokil and they agreed.
”I then emailed Dundee City Council’s convenor of housing, Jimmy Black, and he forwarded my email to Elaine Zwirlein, the director of housing the same day.”
She continued: ”Since then I have been referred back to the East District Housing Office who have been completely unhelpful and unsupportive. It took four days for them to confirm that as part of the cyclical maintenance programme the guttering was cleared in 2007.
”As part of the scheduled maintenance programme this is then not due for further maintenance until 2017.”
She added: ”It was explained to me that if I instruct the work to be carried out by the local authority ‘due process’ needed to be followed. This means that the council has to write out to the private property owners in the block advising them of the work to be carried out, providing detailed quotes of the cost to the individual and to obtain agreement before the work can proceed.
”I explained that this is an emergency situation. I have a bug-infested property which cannot be lived in as a result of neglect by the local authority. There are families with children living in these properties that may have safety and health implications.
”Surely the local authority must be able to react quickly in such situations and use one of their cherry-pickers to access the guttering and clear the blockages? Instead I am being told that scaffolding will have to be erected, and again this will take more time.
”In the meantime, people are living in poorly-maintained, insect-ridden flats in the 21st century as a result of the council’s cyclical maintenance programme and ‘due process’.”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: ”Since this has been brought to our attention the works have been ordered and will be carried out in the next few weeks.”