MORE than 100 residents living on the Mere View housing estate in Winsford are planning to take legal action against a company billing them what they describe as 'ridiculous' rates for maintenance of open spaces.

The residents of the Mere View development off Way’s Green agreed when buying their home with joint developers Persimmon Homes and Anwyl Homes, that they would pay an annual figure to them for maintenance of the open spaces around the development and a play area.

That figure was £58.80 per household for 12 months and the services were contracted out to a company named Greenbelt.

Greenbelt have now put that figure up to £106 for six months – a 260 per cent increase from what was initially agreed.

Graham Ratcliffe, who lives on Rosemary Crescent with wife Christine, said: “The £58.80 we paid last year, we are quite happy with, and if it went up two per cent or so each year, that’s fine, but this is ridiculous.”

Greenbelt state that the residents were told that it was an estimated figure and it could rise.

The company said the figure has risen due to an expansion of its maintenance services since the first 12 months, but told the Guardian that the figure is ‘likely’ to go down again after the next six months.

A Greenbelt spokesman said: “Prior to annual rebilling in January 2017, the local elected member and two residents expressed concern cats had been using the sand within the play area to bury their faeces.

“On the advice of Local Authority Officers, we implemented a regime over and above the normal routine maintenance the residents are currently charged for in order to sanitise the area twice a week.

“In terms of billing concerns brought to us by residents, we have explained theirs is a six-month bill, as Greenbelt has absorbed part of the initial costs of clearing the sand surface of the local play area twice a week. Only a proportion of these costs has been passed on to the residents as part of the ongoing increased management.”

Residents met in force last week to discuss how to tackle the issue and plans have been put in place to pool together money for legal costs.

A representative for Antoinette Sandbach MP spoke at the meeting and encouraged residents to arrange a meeting with the Eddisbury MP.

Ms Sandbach said: “We need to get to the bottom of the issues, as the residents have been messed around for too long.

“I'm organising a meeting in my office for representatives of the residents group to attend to meet with Cheshire West and Chester Council officers. I will follow this issue through from the beginning to establish exactly who is responsible for the situation my constituents find themselves in, so that that all promised work can be completed.

“My constituents have been messed around long enough.”

A spokesperson for Anwyl Homes said:  "The maintenance and upkeep of the public areas at Mere View has been contracted to Greenbelt.  

"Representatives from Anwyl Homes recently attended a meeting with residents and Andrew Atkinson, representative for local MP Antoinette Sandbach.

"We have suggested facilitating a further meeting that also includes representatives from Greenbelt and Persimmon to walk around the development, identify the issues and come to some agreement about the best way forward.  

"We do appreciate the concerns of the residents at Mere View and will make every effort to bring the situation to a satisfactory conclusion for all, as soon as possible ”

Persimmon Homes did not give any comment.