Newnham Labour councillor Cameron Holloway has been supporting residents at Cockcroft Place, Newnham, who have been left dismayed by the failure of their housing association to carry out basic repairs. Peabody, who took over management of the site in April following their merger with Catalyst, have failed to fix the communal lighting in the western part of the site, leaving residents in darkness for over six months.

Cameron has helped to organise a number of meetings on-site with Peabody staff, but he and residents have been deeply disappointed with Peabody’s lack of response or action on this and other serious issues.

Speaking to Cambridge News, Cockcroft Place resident Sarah said:

“There’s accidents waiting to happen here. I’m surprised nobody has had a serious accident.”

“There’s very uneven walkways which makes it even more treacherous at night. We have to go out with either a torch or use the light on our phone. They don’t maintain the roads. The pathways are all uneven, potholes, it’s just so dangerous. We need additional lighting as well.”

Cockcroft Place resident Niamh said:

“Residents have been reporting the need to repair lighting for many years now. Individual lights near entrances and on stairwells are reported and nothing happens. Each time we are taken over by a new housing association we go back to square one and now we are in almost complete darkness. I feel very unsafe coming home from work late at night.”

Cllr Cameron Holloway said:

“I’ve met with residents at Cockcroft Place a number of times about the issues at the site. They’re not asking for much – just basic repairs and maintenance, and for a bit of care to be taken of the site. While individual staff members we’ve spoken to have been very helpful, Peabody as an organisation does not seem to take seriously the day-to-day problems that residents face. Leaving half the site in darkness for so long is just not good enough.”

As well as the problem with lighting, residents have been asking for many months for works to be done on a number of trees, which are becoming dangerous and blocking light from residents’ gardens. A couple of years ago, one tree fell down and hit a delivery driver, and residents are concerned that the same could happen again if branches are not cut back.

Other issues at the site include overflowing bins, uncut hedges, and damp in many of the properties.