A year-long dispute between County Hall and Norwich City Council over which authority is responsible for maintaining a Norwich estate has finally ended.
City Hall has taken ownership of the Goldsmith Street development after a row erupted in May 2023 over which council was in charge of fixing its broken streetlights.
Those living on the development in Heigham Grove have accused the two authorities of being “totally chaotic” when neither would take responsibility for its maintenance.
Marc Wernicke, who lives in the area, said: "It is frankly mind-blowing that such simple basics take so long to sort out."
A spokesperson for Norwich City Council said: "Responsibility for the roads associated with our award-winning housing scheme has been more complicated than usual following the county council’s decision to take over the highways function in 2020.
"We will continue to work with our county colleagues regarding responsibility for the roads and street lighting but in the meantime, we will maintain both.
"This will allow our residents to continue to enjoy living in modern eco-efficient properties which help to tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions – aligning to the other fantastic work we do throughout the city council to be climate responsive."
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Tenants on the development, which provides award-winning social housing, started raising concerns about the broken street lighting at the start of 2023 - less than four years after the work on the estate was completed.
Liam Calvert, Green party councillor for the nearby Wensum ward, said: "Making sure there is an agreement in place for who maintains the roads and who pays for the street lighting is the real basics of property development.
"The Labour-run council rightly wants to build more social housing but there are serious questions about their ability to get the basics right."
YEARS OF DARKNESS
Folk living in the Goldsmith Street homes issued a plea for help last year after they had been left in the dark about the repairs due to the area.
At the time, Sally Reynolds, a resident of Greyhound Opening since 2019, said: "The worst thing is that the council doesn’t even acknowledge that I have been reporting the broken lights for months.
"It feels like local people are being left in the dark by the council, and unsafe in our neighbourhoods.
"It shouldn’t take months to repair some lights. The council should get on with it."
Councillor Amanda Fox said last year: "One call to the council should be enough for repairs to be carried out in a timely fashion, and residents should be informed of any reasons for delays to the completion of these repairs.
"Tenants tell me that they are going in circles when reporting issues and are being promised repairs that never come to fruition.
"This case is just one example of the wider problems residents are facing when it comes to resolving issues in their homes and neighbourhoods. How many calls should it take to change a lightbulb?"
AWARD-WINNING HOMES
In 2019, the Goldsmith Street development in Norwich was named the winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize, awarded to the nation's best new building.
The £17m Norwich City Council project was described as "a modest masterpiece" and "an outstanding contribution to British architecture" by judges at the London ceremony.
The 105 homes - a mix of 45 one-bedroom flats, 40 two-bedroom houses, three two-bedroom flats and five four-bedroom flats - were built by RG Carter and designed by architects Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley.
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