Flats boarded up (From Penarth Times)

Flats boarded up

PENARTH residents on the controversial Billy Banks estate were shocked to see builders boarding up windows of their homes while they were still living there.

Tenants living in Prince Llewellyn Court, Prince Charles Court and Prince Rhodri Court said they "could not believe their eyes".

Father-of-seven Wane Maply, is the only resident left living in his block.

He told the Times: "I was more than surprised to see that my flat was being boarded. Especially since the builders had a long list of other properties they were going to work on.

'We were not informed about this at all.

This just shows how incompetent the Vale of Glamorgan Council is."

Mr Maply said the incident is just the latest in a long line of problems on the estate. He said:

"There have been a lot of problems here with kids drinking and causing a rabble at night which keeps us up. I don't even let my kids go out to play because I worry about them."

But there was a consensus among the residents that living in the area would not be so bad if the problems were cleared up.

Although they admit that every morning the buildings are littered with bottles, bins are thrown about, lights are smashed and there are high incidences of graffiti.

Youths causing a disturbance at night is also seen as a major problem.

Many would also consider moving and claim there are not many people left on the Billy Banks estate because of unruly teenagers.

Resident Caroline Richardson said: "We would just like to know what is going on with our flats. Most of us do not mind moving somewhere else but we have not been offered anywhere.

She added: "At night the old people who still live here are scared to go out because of the trouble."

Other tenants are happy to stay in the flats if only some of the problems could be addressed.

But one said: "Many of us want to stay and will fight for this. But with tenants constantly moving away from the site our campaign is weakened."

The Vale of Glamorgan Council did not comment on the annoyance problems but said: "It appears there was some misunderstanding between interested parties in relation to the security of properties but the matter, as far as the council is concerned, has been satisfactorily resolved."