Disabled man wants payout after years of heating problems at Caithness council house
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A disabled man is seeking a payout from Highland Council after having to endure eight winters of "substandard heating" at his local authority home in Caithness.
Stuart Lilley (45), who suffers from osteoporosis, claims the dampness problems at the property in Threipland Place, Spittal, have been so severe that many of his belongings have been ruined and his health has deteriorated.
He and his partner, who is his full-time carer, have had to rely on duvets and hot-water bottles in cold weather.
After his latest plea for help, work was carried out at the end of last week which appears to have fixed the problem. Now Mr Lilley is calling for recompense, arguing that the way he has been treated over the years is "atrocious".
He said: “I want the council to acknowledge that they screwed up and I want them to stick their hand in their pocket for a lot of the stuff we’ve lost."
Mr Lilley, a musician, is originally from Croy, near Inverness. He and his partner moved to Spittal from Thurso eight-and-a-half years ago.
“From day one we had issues with the heating," Mr Lilley explained. "It’s a coal fire that runs the back boiler so it runs our hot water and everything else.
"I’ve made numerous phone calls to the council over the years. They’ve sent out engineers, they’ve sent out plumbers, they’ve sent out sparkies.
"They have tried, I’ll give them that – but to have been left for eight years with substandard heating, and being a disabled man, is atrocious.
“I get severe pain when cold – I can’t sleep at night-time because of the pain. I have difficulty walking so I use walking sticks. It’s quite bad.
“I’ve been getting constant colds and constant chest infections, all the time. And it’s because of the mould.”
Mr Lilley said that around five months ago a repairs manager provided "two of those tiddly little electric fires to heat the whole house, and £280 because it would have a drain on our finances”.
Last week he made his feelings known to the housing service. He also contacted the John O'Groat Journal and at the same time brought his concerns to the attention of local Highland councillor Willie Mackay.
"They came out on Friday and fixed it," Mr Lilley said. "All it took was a basic service on the fire. It had never been serviced in eight years – the thing was falling to bits."
He was pleased with Councillor Mackay's intervention, saying: “I couldn’t praise him highly enough.”
Now Mr Lilley feels the council has a duty to pay compensation.
“All our clothes are ruined, a lot of my musical equipment is ruined because the damp has got into it," Mr Lilley said. “And our health is deteriorating after breathing in mould spores and damp spores.
"I’ve had to take these extreme measures to get adequate heating."
Mr Lilley has had osteoporosis most of his life and is registered disabled. He played bass guitar in bands in the Inverness area and in England, as well as doing session work. “I can still play but not as much as I did,” he said.
He and his partner are considering moving away from Caithness and possibly settling in the Inverness area.
A council spokesman said: “Our principal repairs officer is attending a meeting with Mr Lilley this week along with our maintenance officer for the area to carry out a full investigation into the reported issues. Mr Lilley will be advised on the outcome of this investigation, and if Highland Council is found to have been lacking a full apology and restitution will be made to Mr Lilley and action taken to prevent any repeat of any failures identified.”
