RESIDENTS have been asked ‘to cut contractors some slack’ as they try to service heating boilers in borough council homes at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
The call comes after one Church Hill householder refused entry to a worker on an annual inspection round to service the boilers in council owned properties.
“I had someone come to the door who said they’d come to service the boiler,” said the resident.
“They said they would be wearing gloves and masks and it would only take 40 minutes but what about social distancing?
“I have a child with special medical needs and if my own grandchildren cannot come and see me because of the current situation there was no way they were coming in.”
“They then told me it was a legal requirement to service the boiler, well that may be so but there’s no way I am putting my family at risk.
“If it was all right for them then it would be all right for everyone to do it, and then where would we be with coronavirus?”
However the Leader of Redditch Borough Council, Councillor Matt Dormer said if properly managed there was no reason why work couldn’t be carried out in complete safety.
“These boilers need to be serviced, it’s a legal requirement,” he said.
“These are unprecedented times and I am sure a solution could be found, say by the family moving into another room while the work is carried out.
“The Council has 6,000 properties and it’s a massive task doing this job. Sometimes you have to cut some people some slack and let them do their job and no one need come to any harm if it’s properly managed.”
