A CARDIFF woman had to wait more than a week for her gunk-blocked bathroom sink to be fixed and at least two days for a leak in her shower, which was seeing water stream onto her bathroom floor, to be repaired.
Carolyn Newbury, who lives at Cardiff Council’s Ty Maelfa community living scheme in Llanedeyrn, has also had problems with a broken toilet in recent weeks.
The issue with the toilet was dealt with within a matter of hours, but her shower and sink were not fixed until this and last week respectively.
Carolyn, 68, said she reported the issue with her sink to the council on February 5, but it was not fixed until February 16.
The resident claimed she reported the shower leak on February 15, although the council said in its statement that it was reported on February 19. According to Carolyn, the issue was fully resolved by February 21.
Cardiff Council said it was experiencing a large number of requests for plumbing work and this was having an impact on normal response timescales.
But Carolyn said the wait for work to be done at her flat was “very frustrating”.
She said the council told her the issue was “not a matter of life and death”, but she explained to them that she would have to open the bathroom door before washing her hands to use the kitchen sink.
Carolyn added: “Surely it is unhygienic to wash your hands somewhere where you would normally prepare food. To have to go to the kitchen was really annoying me.
“I just felt that they weren’t listening. The council didn’t seem to be bothered by it. It is just not fair really when you have got the whole block with people who are elderly or with a disability.”
She said she was simply told to put a plastic bag and towel down on the floor to deal with the water from the leaking shower.
More than 22,700 repairs were carried out by the council’s housing team last year.
The local authority said it experienced a backlog of repairs and increased demand following the Covid-19 pandemic.
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “The council’s repairs team has attended the property on a number of occasions over the past two weeks in response to reports of leaks in the bathroom.
“A blocked basin was reported on February 5 and attended to on February 16, while a toilet leak was reported on February 13 which operatives resolved on February 15.
“A report of a leaking shower on February 19 was responded to the following day.
“Following the pandemic, the council’s housing service faced a backlog of repairs together with increased ongoing demand.
“Significant work has been done since then to reduce the amount of outstanding works and to reduce response times for repairs.
“We aim to resolve reports of repairs as quickly as possible.
“Last year more than 22,700 repairs were carried out by our teams and we aim to complete emergency works within two to 24 hours, and urgent cases within five working days.
“However, at the moment we’re experiencing a large number of requests for plumbing work and this is having an impact on normal response timescales.
“We appreciate tenants’ patience as we deal with this current high demand.”
