Family demand compensation after noisy demolition of Sheffield university building makes home ‘unlivable’

Work began last month to bulldoze part of the university’s new Faculty of Social Sciences (FoSS) building, on the junction of Whitham Road and Northumberland Road, after problems were found with the foundations of the site.

Construction of the £65million hub began in May last year – but the university said the partial demolition was ‘necessary’ so alterations can be made to the structure of the building, which contractors BAM will then rebuild.

The problems have pushed back the building’s expected completion date by a year to 2022.

Dr Mary Peace, who lives on nearby Marlborough Road, said her family and neighbours are now at their ‘wits end’ with the noise from the demolition work.

Her husband, Conor O’Callaghan said: “It's like having a nightmare family living next door but instead of a family it’s Sheffield University. It's utterly unbearable and unlivable.”

The university previously apologised to residents for the disruption caused – while BAM insisted it would keep doing whatever it can to minimise noise and dust.

However, Ms Peace says it is not good enough and is now demanding compensation.

In a joint email to the construction manager at the FoSS site and the head of sustainability and public relations at the university, the 53-year-old said: “We went away three weeks ago to get away from the noise but are now back and the noise and vibration are worse than ever. I feel sick and have a constant headache.

"There is no getting away from it even at the other side of the house, even with earplugs The hammer action machine is an absolute torment.

“I am supposed to have started back at work, from home, my daughter still has two weeks of summer holiday as does my husband. Our weekdays have become a dread - we are so stressed, my husband has had to go to the doctor about it this week.

"And now we hear that you are going to be working all weekend. It is not fair! This is your cock-up. We really wanted to be here for the last weeks of our summer holiday. This year has been, as you know a hideously stressful time for everyone, but to have to cope with this on top is just too much.

"We can't afford to go on holiday again, it would cost about £2,000 to rent anything in these last two weeks. You need to compensate us so that we can get away at least during the worst of the demolition.

“The amount of money it would cost you to compensate the four families immediately concerned is negligible in the scheme of things.”

A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said: "We are very sorry about the disruption to local residents. We continue to work closely with the contractor BAM, who are responsible for the site, to look at how they can minimise disruption as much as possible.

"This has recently included an offer to fund temporary office space for residents trying to work from home.

“BAM is keeping us closely informed about progress on site and we will ensure that residents receive timely updates when we have new information available.”

The university also said that work is planned for this weekend only – not for all weekends going forward – as BAM need to close a footpath to take a section of the building down safely and Sheffield Council didn't want this to happen during the week.

A BAM spokesperson added: “We are working within the planning constraints to undertake this work as quickly and as safely as possible.

"We have every sympathy for our neighbours about the noise from and inconvenience caused by the deconstruction especially for those who are close by. We have offered the close group of neighbours alternative working space away from the scheme and hope this will be of some assistance to them although none have taken it up so far.

"Meanwhile we are doing whatever we can to minimise noise and dust, monitoring noise and vibration levels, and have shortened the working hours of the noisiest deconstruction machinery.“We are extremely frustrated that these very unusual circumstances have arisen and feel badly about the impact on our neighbours given that there is a very limited amount that can be done while deconstruction takes place.“We remain very grateful to them for their forbearance. Ultimately the university and surrounding community will be proud of the new building which will improve on what was there before. We will still achieve this, just later than originally planned, and we will keep doing what we can to reduce disruption in the meantime."

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