Couple's fury at Good Neighbour award
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A BONAR BRIDGE couple are seeing red over a "Good Neighbour" award presented to Robertson Highland, the firm which constructed the new Migdale Hospital.
For Norman and Ruby MacDonald, who live a stone’s throw away from the new £8 million hospital at Cherry Grove in Bonar Bridge, say Robertson Highland were anything BUT good neighbours during the 15 months the hospital was under construction.
In fact the couple, who are both retired police officers, have a litany of complaints against the company.
They range from their water getting cut off no fewer than 12 times, to the access route to their home being blocked for nine weeks.
Mr MacDonald said: "The whole thing was a pain.
"It was a catalogue of disasters — nothing less."
And they are now querying how Robertson got nominated for the Good Neighbour Award when, they claim, no-one living in the vicinity of the new hospital was ever asked for their opinion.
So disbelieving were they about the award that they initially thought it was an April Fool’s joke.
Robertson Highland, part of the Robertson Group which provides infrastructure, support services and construction services, began work on the new build in February 2010. The hospital opened in June 2011.
It was announced a fortnight ago that they had won a silver award in the Considerate Constructors National Site Awards.
Mr MacDonald said: "Had we been consulted, it is more likely that Robertson Highland would have won a Gold Award in the Inconsiderate Constructors Scheme National Site Awards."
The couple lost their water supply for hours and even days at a time on 12 separate occasions as work on the site continued.
On other occasions they were puzzled as to why their water pressure was so low – until they discovered they were sharing their supply with the site.
And they say agreements regarding land belonging to them constantly changed.
"Site boundaries altered frequently, usually resulting in the loss of several mature trees or an area of garden ground at the whim of the contractor – usually while we were absent."
And, for nine weeks, from 2nd February 2010 until 9th April 2010, the vehicle access route to their hilltop home was cut off, although Robertson did provide the couple with four-wheel drives so they could get to their home via three fields and four gates.
Mr MacDonald revealed that despite the hospital having been operational for nearly a year now, drainage work on the access road still needed to be completed.
"We’re awaiting finalisation of site drainage which, if not satisfactorily completed, could negate the public construction consent," he said.
After learning about the award, the MacDonalds complained to the awards body, the Considerate Constructors Scheme.
Public liaison officer David Crook said the awards process was based on evidence collected by the scheme’s monitors when they visited sites.
He added: "This evidence is then presented to an independent panel who, in addition to the assessment from these visits, take into account data from complaints we have received about a site and the manner in which these complaints have been handled."
Mr Crook explained that Robertson had registered for the awards scheme and had been sent details of the its code, as well as posters and banners to be displayed around the site.
He said: "If passers-by wish to comment, the name and telephone number of the site manager or company contact are clearly displayed, alongside the free phone telephone number of the awards scheme administration office.
"In this instance, no complaints were received by the scheme during the operation of the project."
A spokesman for Robertson said: "We’re disappointed to hear of Mr and Mrs MacDonald’s comments. I think it’s important to bear in mind that large construction projects will inevitably cause disruption. It is impossible to build something of this scale without creating some issues. What is important is that we try to minimise problems and ensure issues are addressed when they happen.
"The aim of the Considerate Constructors’ Awards Scheme is to encourage companies to actively manage disruption and customer complaints during the construction process.
"Offering the use of 4x4 vehicles when it was necessary to close the access road, laying Tarmac in the driveway and making a compensation payment are examples of this approach.
"We are confident we responded to every issue raised by Mr and Mrs MacDonald, held regular meetings and are currently working with them to resolve one final issue."
