Problem with housing association

Atherlon_2

Yesterday I visited a disabled friend in a housing association apartment on a new estate 

when leaving the only exit to the small estate had been completely blocked by workmen , they where working on a roof with a cherry picker with cones around it but had then put two vans , one either side of cherry picker sideways across the road 

I shouted up to them nicely if they could move their vans so I could leave estate , they said “ not a f@&£ing hope we will be down in about 2 hours” , I thought they where kidding , so again said I needed to leave , they just laughed and said you will have to wait 

I must admit I did loose it and call them a bunch of c@&£5 , the only way out was to squeeze between the vans and go over the pavement and grass . 

Anyway I go to my friends today to find out he has been given a written warning over my behaviour as the workmen complained 

this can’t be right , as one I was stopped from using the highway and what I do has nothing to do with him 

Brie

You could always send the HA a complaint about the behaviour of the people working there, first for blocking an exit without any warning, secondly their ignoring health and safety and fire regulations and thirdly for attitude and impolite language to your polite request .  Add a bill for the damage to your vehicle which (didn't) happen when you had to drive across the pavement.

ripplyuk

Your friend probably has the same clause in her tenancy agreement as I do, that the tenant is responsible for the behaviour of anyone visiting the property. They can in theory evict over this but that would take repeated complaints, and is highly unlikely to happen apart from the most extreme antisocial behaviour. 

It seems a bit unfair as we can’t control the behaviour of any other person. I’m not saying you were right to be swearing at the workmen but they shouldn’t be blocking the road. I’d make a complaint about them. 

Atherlon_2

Brie said:

You could always send the HA a complaint about the behaviour of the people working there, first for blocking an exit without any warning, secondly their ignoring health and safety and fire regulations and thirdly for attitude and impolite language to your polite request .  Add a bill for the damage to your vehicle which (didn't) happen when you had to drive across the pavement.

It was the public road they where blocking , this is the only way in and out of a disable /OAP housing complex , not only was I blocked in by them ( workmen of the estate builders) but if there had been an emergency , or most tenants have carers  calling throughout the day , none would have had easy access to the place 

user1977

I would forget about it.

Atherlon_2

user1977 said:

I would forget about it. Yea 

Why ?? . I was blocked in , I’m also disabled , my friend now has a written warning against him 

I’ve phoned the developer , they say it was contractors but they should never have blocked the road off and she’s going to get someone higher to phone me back 

I did tell her that I have it all on video , car has front and rear dash cams 

I was going to forget all about it until I found out that they had complained about me and my friend had been told off by the housing association manager 

thegreenone

Make sure you back up your dashcam footage and email it to the developer and HA Manager.  Particularly pointing out the need for access to the complex in case of emergency. 

The residents should've been told the road would be blocked at some point that day but sadly I can confirm from where I live, that rarely happens.

user1977

Atherlon_2 said:

user1977 said:

I would forget about it. Yea 

Why ??

Because the incident is over and done with and the written warning has no legal significance.

TripleH

I would lodge a complaint but on the grounds that in an emergency any vehicular access would not have been possible.

Swearing at the workmen was wrong (I believe you do acknowledge that) but their actions could have put lives at risk.

I would ask they withdraw the complaint against you and inform the contractors that blocking the road is unacceptable. They were lazy pure and simple.

Whilst I agree with user1977 that the warning has no significance, the actions of the workmen in blocking a road because they were lazy needs addressing.

Titus_Wadd

If you can't exit to reach the highway ring the police on 101 and they should come out and ask the workmen to let you through; if they start effing and jeffing ring 999, tell them you have asked them to let you through but been abusive.  I don't know whether this would work quickly enough in practice but it's what we have been told, and we have had our right of way blocked every day for a year!  Generally the culprit moves by the time the police arrive. 

Hopefully you won't need this advice again, but being the first to complain is also something to keep in mind.  I understand your frustration OP.