News / Hjaltland staff urged to visit areas affected by dust from Staneyhill project
HJALTLAND Housing Association staff should visit areas in Lerwick close to the Staneyhill development site to see the impact dust is having on them, one councillor has suggested.
And residents in those same areas are likewise being told to ask Hjaltland for a visit to the site to see the work they are doing to minimise dust.
Shetland News reported in May last year that Hjaltland was to step up its dust suppression efforts after concerns were raised by residents in Lerwick about cars and windows being covered in dust.
Shetland Islands Council was accused this week of “fobbing off” Lerwick Community Council (LCC) after it had raised concerns about the development.
LCC wrote to the council’s environmental health department in March to question ongoing dust levels from the site, where work to build 32 new homes is set to start in June.
Work to get underway on first phase of Staneyhill housing in June
It said it was continuing to receive complaints “across a wide area of Lerwick”, which related to persistent dust affecting homes, vehicles and heating systems.
“This issue has been ongoing for a prolonged period, and despite repeated complaints and interventions, the situation does not appear to be improving,” it said.
However in response, planning officer Krishnah Priya Ragunath said some level of dust was unavoidable for this type of development.
She said multiple site visits had been carried out, with Hjaltland having to provide evidence of the dust suppression measures on site regularly.
“We will also continue to conduct our unannounced site visits and respond to any further complaints as they arise,” she said.
“Our next formal step could involve statutory enforcement action, if necessary.”
But community councillor Brian Smith said he believed the council was “fobbing us off” in response.
“There’s an unacceptable level of complaints that have come in, and they’re getting radio silence.”
Fellow member Amanda Hawick said some folk were concerned about putting clothes out to dry because of the level of dust coming from the site.
She said she felt they were entitled to have tests done on the air quality, to see if there were stronger concerns about what was being blown towards their homes.
Lerwick North and Bressay councillor Gary Robinson, who lives near to the Staneyhill development site, said there was “no question” that a large amount of dust was being created.
“Anyone with a black car in Norstane, Voderview or Burnside can tell you that you could wash it three times a week, and it would still be dirty,” he added.
However Lerwick South councillor Dennis Leask defended Hjaltland, saying the housing association was working to ensure that dust could be suppressed at site.
He claimed that a water cannon spraying at the site could look like dust, and that complaints had been wrongly raised about dust when it was actually water.
Leask said Hjaltland was more than happy to take LCC members to the site for a visit to see what was being done, and he urged them to take up the offer.
He admitted, however, that there was “certainly a dust issue” as a result of the work going on.
Smith said this had been going on for two years now, and there had been a “massive amount of complaints”.
“This is about to repeat itself up at the Knab – we have got to get on top of this.”
In response to Leask’s offer for the LCC members to visit the Staneyhill site, Robinson said Hjaltland “might want to go” to areas in Lerwick affected by the dust too.
“Folk have complained for two years and the perception is that nobody has done anything about it,” he added.
Leask responded that Hjaltland had certainly been making an effort to suppress dust – but admitted it probably had not engaged well enough with the public.
Local firm DITT has been awarded the contract to build the first 32 homes at the Staneyhill site, starting next month, with construction expected to take more than two years.
This first phase will deliver 32 one-bed, two-person homes, with around 300 new homes eventually provided at the site.
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