00:00You just can't escape it. On every surface in John Eadie's garden, a thick layer of dust.
00:07The driving instructor has to clean his car three to four times a week,
00:12a direct result of the often-caught farm development,
00:16which has turned into a dust bowl during the recent dry weather.
00:20A nightmare for John and his wife, Trish.
00:23Well, it's really frustrating, to be honest. It makes you feel anxious because the dirt's coming indoors,
00:30the furniture's getting damaged.
00:33Can you imagine most building sites have an eight-foot-high wooden fence around it that wouldn't stop the dust
00:39bowl?
00:39It would have a good barrier and stop some of it.
00:43But if you look there, there's just this wire mesh fence that stops absolutely nothing.
00:47Everywhere you look along this street, there's something covered in dust.
00:51Dozens of cars caked in the stuff.
00:54Window sills, solar panels.
00:56Residents say it's been going on since June with no end in sight.
01:01You can't have the back door open.
01:03You can't have any windows.
01:05You can't sit in the garden.
01:07Every day you're wiping window sills down and furniture down.
01:11It's horrendous.
01:13For 82-year-old Pam Hirons, the dust poses bigger problems.
01:16She has a long-term lung condition, leaving her stuck indoors at the height of summer.
01:23To come out, this noise, all this dirt and dust all the time, is just hell.
01:27Under the Environment Protection Act 1990, formal action can be taken if dust levels are found to be disruptive.
01:35Kate Springett works from home in foster care every day.
01:40She is just one of those living at Woodside Gardens that has written to Taylor Wimpey, as well as Swale
01:46Borough Council, calling for a long-term solution.
01:51All of a sudden, there was just a wave of dust came into the house and I just sat and
01:55cried.
01:55It was just so upsetting.
01:58And that was it.
01:58I just started to send emails off to Environmental Health Planning.
02:02Taylor Wimpey say they do recognise residents' concerns about dust during the recent dry weather
02:08and apologise for any disruption this has caused, stating they're doing all they can to minimise inconvenience.
02:16We did see water cannons and dampening happening on site, part of the mitigation Swale Borough Council says it requested,
02:25with the authorities saying they've taken the situation extremely seriously and that they're continuing to monitor the site.
02:33But as Kent's drought wears on and with a hose pipe ban in place, getting rid of this dust will
02:39be easier said than done.
02:42Ollie Lieder at Woodside Gardens.
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