Ballymore construction shakes neighbour's home

She said: "People ask 'How can you still be living in this house?'. I feel like the caretaker on a building site.

"The house is just falling to pieces, but it's like no one's listening.

"I feel like I'm being tortured here."

Toynbee Housing Association tenant Tracy claims underground piling work on the bright orange 190-unit building has caused structural damage, causing her walls to crack and her doors to shift in their frames.

She also reports that thick layers of concrete dust routinely settle in the house, forcing her to replace mattresses and leaving her and her two children Jay, 23, and Ellie, 13, complaining of asthma and dust allergies.

She said: "If we close the doors, they get stuck and we can't get out. All the locks have snapped on the windows due to the vibrations.

"We're all now on steroids and having patch tests. Because it's so dusty you wake up with sores around your mouth, lips and eyes.

"I've never had asthma in my life, but it's been going on for just over a year."

Tracy claims construction often starts at 7am and takes place seven days a week. She worries about how this affects her daughter, who is currently studying for exams and competing as a showjumper.

She said: "My daughter is studying really hard. She wants to be a vet. But she's getting no rest and the house is covered in dust."

Tracy also believes the vibrations caused the death of the family's Staffordshire Bull Terrier Max.

She said: "The dog just sat under the table looking terrified. He started to suffer trauma, had a fit and we ended up losing him a few weeks ago.

"He was only ten years old, and that's not that old."

Her patio is dominated by metal scaffolding erected to prop up a cracked party wall, which Ballymore argues was caused by a neighbouring tree pressing against it.

As children played outside during half term, drilling work for a new footpath from South Quay station flicked up stones over the wall onto the patio. A shovel was also thrown over the wall some months ago.

She said: "When I moved in here ten years ago, it was like I'd won the lottery. Now I can't even sit in the garden.

"Toynbee keeps saying they've got nowhere for me to go. But how can they let someone live like this?"

A Toynbee spokeswoman claims the association has instructed a party wall surveyor to look at the wall outside. It denied receiving a formal transfer application for a move from Tracy, but sent another form to her on Saturday afternoon.

Ballymore's community liaison manager Andrew Sparrow confirmed the company would send a surveyor to the house after construction, and pay for "any damage caused by construction".

He confirmed Ballymore had expanded the gardens of some neighbouring residents, and relaid Tracy's patio at a cost of £6,000. It also cleans the windows at a cost of £20 a month, and says it has a "private agreement" over cleaning. Tracy argues she is currently £600 out of pocket on a dry cleaning bill the company has not paid.

Ballymore claims the boundary wall damage is the responsibility of the neighbouring Mastmaker Court Industrial Estate, and is contacting them to deal with the situation.

Mr Sparrow added work on the site would be completed by late June or early July, with internal construction set to finish in October. The walkway will also be completed at that time.

He said: "We can't move the resident ourselves. It would be up to Toynbee to move her to a home in their own housing stock.

"A structural engineer and a party wall surveyor both stated Ballymore's construction is not responsible for the cracking in the wall.

"Any damage Ms Waller feels is caused by the construction work should be reported to Toynbee, who will make representations to Ballymore.

"Ms Waller has numbers for the site manager and myself, and if there's an issue she should contact the manager straight away.

"We have regular residents meetings and she can discuss any problems with me as they arise."