AN EXASPERATED Lloyd resident is calling for compensation after “thousands of dollars” worth of artificial turf was ripped up to make way for a footpath he claims to have known nothing about.
Pat Byrnes moved into his Barton Avenue home last December and, like everyone else residing along the suburban street, was forced to spend up to $7000 dollars to have artificial turf laid down on the nature strip in front of their homes as part of the property package.
Despite the selling agent for Lloyd confirming a footpath was included in the original development application, Mr Byrnes said he only knew of the plans when workers began ripping up the fake turf last week.
“In some cases I believe some people have paid up to $7000 for this artificial grass,” Mr Byrnes said.
“We were forced to pay for it, but now they’ve gone to tear it up to put a footpath down. I just think it’s wrong.”
Mr Byrnes originally thought the works related to a recent storm that had caused problems to the nearby sewage system.
But workers informed him they were ripping up the nature strip turf to make way for a footpath on one side of the street.
Mr Byrnes questioned why they were forced to lay the turf in the first place if a proposed footpath was in the plans all along.
“At the least, they could have notified us,” Mr Byrnes said.
“The first I knew was when they put a blue line of paint down the centre (of the nature strip). I just think they should have done the courtesy thing of letting us know.”
Thinking it was a council issue, Mr Byrnes emailed council about the matter last Thursday.
He received no response, but a council spokesman told the Advertiser he believed the developer was responsible for the works.
“If the developer is putting it through, they should have put a letter in our letterbox,” Mr Byrnes said.
“Now the big question is, how much are we going to be compensated for our grass being torn up as (I don’t want) my hard-earned money wasted just to be ripped up.”
The real estate agent responsible for sales in the estate said a footpath was part of the development application.
He hit back at suggestions turf would cost $7000 and pitched it to cost about $5000, with the path only replacing about $900 worth of turf.
The Lloyd area was rezoned for residential purposes on the condition developers ensure a minimum of 80 per cent of the suburb is covered by impervious surfaces, as the area plays an important role in managing urban salinity within the broader Wagga urban area.
