A GROUP of sweltering residents are celebrating victory in a tussle with a housing association today after they were told to remove children's paddling pools from outside their homes.
A GROUP of sweltering residents are celebrating victory in a tussle with a housing association today after they were told to remove children's paddling pools from outside their homes.
The families in Perkins Way, Ipswich, were so infuriated by Suffolk Housing Society's assertion that they must remove the pools from outside their flats that they organised a petition calling for at least one of the pools to be allowed to stay.
They had been left hot under the collar by letters from the society telling them to remove the pools at a time when the hot summer weather continued and children were on school holidays.
The petition and the families' appeals for a change of heart have now worked and a compromise has been reached.
Michelle Staunton, 25, has a 10ft inflatable paddling pool outside her flat and she said: “They said they've had complaints but we've spoken to all the neighbours and they all said that if we put it around the back and stop using it by 9pm they would be happy.
“A neighbour has complained to us and we've told them we will stop using it after 9pm. That is fair enough.
“We can't just shut the kids indoors.”
Vanya Partridge, another Perkins Way resident whose two children Ronnie and Katelyn use the pools, said: “We got it so they could keep cool. It was only going to be for the summer period.
“We thought it would be something for them to do and we would know where they are. With this heat they need to cool down outside.”
Suffolk Housing Society had initially said the pools and a trampoline would have to be removed by today because of complaints from other residents about noise but it has now agreed that one pool and the trampoline can stay.
Steve Clarke, the society's chief executive, said: “We will allow one pool and the trampoline to be put on the bigger of the outside areas.
“We will do it as long as there are no complaints.
“We have no reason not to allow people to enjoy themselves but it's where it impacts on other residents.
“There's apparently three pools at the moment - that's over the top.”
Weblink: www.suffolkhousing.org
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