Eastham Close Site: 1 July 2011

Reporter: Mr John Bailey. johnbailey78@ymail.com

I live on the Estate and today there is only two topics of conversation: how fast the new houses and flats are being built, and to such a high standard of workmanship. The second is the small size of the two houses which are being built on Eastham Close. They are quite prominent and look quite nice from the outside.

The House plans published on this blog two weeks ago tell a different story. I just cannot understand why there is no closet downstairs, a small room to hang up your coats, and put cleaning stuff in like brushes, mops and a vacuum cleaner. The kitchen seems small as well, I don’t think there would be much room to use the ironing board. There is also nowhere to put your washing to dry if its raining out, or if you have to go to work during the day. The person living here would have to use a clothes horse, and ironing board in the living room.

The block of houses being built nearby is now up to the third level, and seems so high. I agree with Richard Pearson about the bottom row. I asked workmen on the site and they said that these were all kitchens. The living rooms are on the middle level they said, so the bedrooms must be along the top. My wife and I cook a Sunday roast each week, and with three large saucepans boiling away there is a lot of steam. Even with a window open it still condenses on the cold window glass and walls. In the ground floor kitchens of this new block of houses there are no ventilation grills. Nowhere for the steam to go except onto the walls and in the air. The people who do move in are going to have a big problem with mould and damp, I wouldn’t like that at all.

The photographs below show the Eastham Close Site as it is today.

The bottom photograph shows the same block of houses as seen from Eastham Close Road.