We’re prisoners in our own homes because of newbuilds being constructed just metres away – we can’t use gardens in peace
HOMEOWNERS say they feel like prisoners in their own properties due to newbuilds being constructed just metres away.
Locals in a Cornish town popular with tourists say they can no longer use their gardens in peace because of a new nearby development.
The residents in Bodmin have raised concerns after contractors arrived last month, more than two years after planning permission was granted for a 45-home project.
They say the firm behind the new properties have been "terrible" in communicating with them about the construction work beginning at 7.30am each day.
And they fear metal barriers as part of the construction efforts "move closer" to their existing homes each day - prompting further worries for their privacy.
One said: "We can't sell and we can't move - we're trapped like prisoners."
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Many locals there are retired while others work night shifts, making the builders' early stars more aggravating.
Judy Stevens, 72, who lives with 73-year-old husband Barry, criticised the development for what she called a "total intrusiveness of everyone's lives".
She said: "It's mostly the noise and the privacy and we've had to buy screening to put up to protect ourselves.
"The other morning there was a digger right there and I was in my nightie - it's really not pleasant and they've been shouting and swearing.
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"It's having a huge impact on the traffic and all I can hear is noise and all I can smell is fumes."
The retired nurse said she felt the development plans "all went quiet" and then came out as a surprise when builders arrived last month.
Some residents weren't even aware a reserved matters application had been submitted then approved back in 2021, three years after an outline planning bid.
Judy added: "It's truly awful - we've worked hard our entire lives and now we're retired so we're here most of the time and we've just got no life at all.
"I think we've paid our dues."
The site offices are expected to be built outside her dining room window.
Hilda Blacklaw, in her 70s and a resident on the road for 40 years, says she could no longer sit outside nor invite visitors.
She insisted: "We're not trying to be NIMBYs.
"We just have to put up with big machinery and groundworks until the end of the year - and then what, another year of 'bleep bleep bleep' which is even more irritating.
"If I want to do anything in the garden now I have to wait until the weekend and hope the weather is nice so I'm not spending much time gardening, which we're all meant to be doing for our mental health - it's horrible."
Nearby bungalow-owner Debbie Connell, 62, said: "It would have broken my parents' hearts to see this.
"We had decking put in specially because they would sit out here and watch the world, but there's absolutely no privacy now.
"We're stuck in limbo and at the mercy of these people. I was thinking about listing it on Airbnb for people to stay but we can't now, given the noise - we just can't."
Another neighbour, housebound 85-year-old Beatrice, has "no escape from this noise", according to daughter Sarah Alcock, 55.
Sarah added: "It's not nice for anyone - but at least people can go away whereas mum is here all the time and when they were ready to start they did come knocking but mum was at a hospital appointment so had no idea.
"They say nobody has a right to a view which is fair enough, but this is about privacy and it is right in your backyard.
"We all have a right to enjoy what is ours, but she can't."
An outline planning application was submitted in 2018 to Cornwall Council for the development.
A reserved matters application then followed in 2021 and was approved within the required time period.
The plan is for 45 homes, ranging from flats to four-bedroom houses.
Ten are set to be affordable rentals, along with four shared ownership properties and 31 open-market homes.
A spokesperson for developers Countryside Partnerships said: “We have met with neighbouring residents in person to discuss any concerns they may have regarding working hours whilst also responding to queries from the local ward councillor.
"We remain readily available to listen and respond to any further queries.
“We are also in daily correspondence with our contractor carrying out these works to make sure that any disruption caused by construction is kept to a minimum.
"If it is found that work is commencing before the times agreed with the council, we shall be reminding them of this requirement."
The Bodmin controversy follows similar "prison-look" concerns about newbuilds from people living in Greenwich, south London.
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A pensioner in Exeter in Devon feared she could have to pay thousands of pounds after "ugly" heat pumps for newbuilds appeared outside her garden.
And more seaside town locals in Kent said their area was being wrecked by an "eyesore" £20million newbuild estate.
