Donnelly Park - ‘the land that time forgot’ - couple claim

Last week we reported the poor condition of kitchens in the Glebeside area, with residents complaining they had been treated ‘like second class citizens’.

Residents of Hamilton Park complained that three years after other streets in the estate had their kitchens upgraded they still are waiting leaving them with unsuitable facilities.

Adrian Campbell who lives in Hamilton Park told the Times: “The facilities we have to work with are unsuitable. My wife and I have two children and we have a space of approximately two feet square to prepare meals on. In this day and age this is unacceptable.

“To make matters worse I have friends and family a short distance away who have lovely modern kitchens. We have approached the Housing Executive plenty of times and even though they claim it will be sorted it still isn’t.”

Adrian’s wife Michelle continued: “I’m proud of my home and would love to decorate my kitchen but can’t as the units are ancient and in such bad shape. One of the cupboard doors is falling apart but goodness knows what they can do as they won’t have the same style. To be honest its quite embarrassing to invite people into the house.”

Following that story, we were contacted by Dean and Mary Madison of Donnelly Park, Bendooragh Road.

They told the Times: “At present we have been in contact with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for at least four years asking for a new kitchen.

“Our current kitchen is 15 years old and is falling apart i.e. drawers held together with L brackets, cupboards have wood mites of some kind and are also black inside.

“They are also boast and the edge trim is peeling off. We have been told that they will replace the three upper cupboards but not the rest of the kitchen which we find to be wrong as all our cupboards are now infested no matter how much we clean.

“When we moved into the house the kitchen floor had stains on it that could not be removed no matter what.

“Seeing a resident of Hamilton Park speaking out about her kitchen has brought it to our attention that we are not the only people unhappy.

“Also we have a five-year-old autistic child and he cannot be let into our kitchen.

“I think every woman wants a nice home but Donnelly Park is the land that time forgot and by the looks of it so did the N.I.H.E.

“Our day to day life is stressful enough without having to fight for something that should be already up to a European standard. Also would like to add that we have had our back door replaced twice so far by substandard doors that keep splitting and splintering and injuring visitors to our home.”

Last week, a spokesperson from the Housing Executive said: “In recent years the Housing Executive has replaced kitchens in a number of homes in Glebeside, Ballymoney.

“In the current economic climate, the Housing Executive’s work programmes have had to be scaled back and it has been necessary to extend timescales for this type of work. The next phase of kitchen replacement planned for Glebeside, including homes in Hamilton Park, is scheduled for 2013, subject to availability of funding. The 105 properties included in this phase were the subject of multi element improvements in the early 1990s. These work programmes are kept under regular review.”