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Disappointing Meeting
Brett Baxter • 13 November 2022
Bath Vale Meeting 7-11-22
Bath Vale Residents Meeting 7th November 2022
Meeting opened with a passive aggressive monologue by Leigh Pemberton on what our responsibilities under the TP1 are, and how we are lucky not to be with a fixed managing agent that we could not change, so we should be thankful we are not in a fleece or leasehold position. If we are not in a fleece hold properties what are we in? given the Managing Agents can charge what they want, take commissions of all services provided and situation can go on as long as we own the properties fleece hold is the only explanation.
It is clear from the opening monologue even though we effectively are paying AFP, they have no loyalty to us and they are employed by Bovis/Vistry. Effectively we are in a fleece hold situation until we become directors.
Fiona Bruce has advised that it would be extremely detrimental if any resident put themselves forward before all the issues have been addressed, if someone was to do so they would become liable for all the issue’s and the accounts.
Joanne Morrison will be handing the woodland over very shortly, Leigh raised the woodland plan for 2010 and glossed over the plan and non implementation that it was SDL fault after 2013, however he insisted that Bovis handed over management in 2013 to SDL when in fact it was 2015.
A script from Joanne Morrison handed out to all that states 2013 being the handover date when in fact it was 2015 this can be verified on your account for 2016, which were zero and £10330.32p was handed over to SDL from Bovis, so for the first 5 years the Woodland it was in Bovis hands and no work was done, according to Joanne Morrison the Woodland was taken back into Bovis Management in 2017 so for 8 of the 10 years the Woodland was neglected by Bovis.
The same document implies that Bovis set up a steering group when it was elected by the residents some years ago. The handed out document from AFP is full of in accuracies such as on the night of the meeting it was claimed that the road was adopted that is not the case, on the 5/10/22 Cheshire east said the following, “A vesting Certificate from the S104 of the water industries act is always required before adoption process of Section 38 of the Highways act can be completed”
They went on to say that the local water authority United Utilities had still not issued the S104 vesting certificate. On Monday 10th October confirmation was received that after communication from Fiona Bruce there are a number of official documents to support the above. The outcome is the road adoption has been completed after the intervention of some concerned resident and Fiona Bruce and not through anything Bovis or AFP did. The outstanding question is what did Joanne Morrison stand to gain from the last two years saying that the Vesting S104 was complete when it was not and delaying the road adoption.
Leigh Pemberton failed to adequately address why there were multiple versions of the Woodland Plan for 2020, the only plan he refereed too was the March 2021 revised version which was not the one presented to the Steering Group in November 2020 and agreed was a good plan. So what is left is a plan which reduced by 50% due to a paragraph re-wording, while the contractor were on site it was discussed with the tree surgeons and they when asked are they going to the 10 meter line the reply was “no we are only going to 5 meters as instructed”.
Leigh Pemberton said during the meeting that contrary to Joanne Morrison reports and emails, “they did not sign it off to a point”, Emma Hood only confirmed work had been done”.
Leigh ascertained that all the work that needs to be done has been except for few items that will be done under what they term as winter works, these are items that have been repeatedly promised for year and years.
Nine minutes into the meeting Leigh Pemberton said “bare in mind we work for Vistry they do not work for us”
Leigh could not answer the questions about multiple woodland plans and stated inaccurate dates for plans and insisted Emma Hood had signed off the Woodland. Leigh came up with an implausible reason that the Woodland Plan has been changed but insisted no maintenance was not an issue.
Himalayan Balsam was raised and a promised to be paid for the next three years by Bovis, monies will be transferred to AFP, and the amount of £15k was discussed. Any tree or damage done by falling tree will be on your own insurance not the Public Liability. All works have no time for completion only a vague sometime next year before the nesting season.
The accounts now magically look good, the reserve which was £7k two months ago is now £23k and the current account which was £1k is now £10k and the payment by Bovis for Himalayan Balsam will be in a separate account not hypothecated for the work, the quote for the Balsam was £20k over 4 years, it remains to be seen if Bovis hand over the money.
If AFP are to be believed the current state of the accounts.
Reserve £23000
Current £10.000
Debtor £18,000
Balsam £ unknown amount from Bovis anticipated £15000 from quotation by IWS, the question to be asked is how did we go from little to no reserves and no money in the current account in such a short space of time to lofty figures from Leigh, where did the £16k jump in the reserves come from, where did the £9000 in the current account come from if the debtors amount has not reduced.
Leigh indicated that the court users had been under credited on 2020 accounts, and this will be credited next year, he also indicated that a £30 credit per property would be coming for 2021, although no accounts have yet been produced for 2021, if we put that into perspective that is £3780, every year since 2017 the surplus has been north of £10k and we should have received £80.00 credit for each property, where is the other £5.2k.
We will have to wait for the accounts to be published, but past history would suggest they need to be checked thoroughly, end of year accounts should not take this long to do unless something is being hidden like the £4500 from 2020 accounts that has disappeared. Which no reasonable transparent explanation has yet been forth coming.
Leigh said that the reserves were carried over at year end so in January 2021 why were the reserves £16k short and the £16k only appeared in time for the meeting on the 7th November.
Leigh Pemberton indicated that out of the seven courts they only have electricity bills for 3 courts and after years of charging for electricity had no idea what we are being charged, we have been pursuing the electricity charges for 3 years and the managing agents have been unable to sort this out, the current excuse is EON next and EON new, the 3 courts they have bill for is EON next and the other 4 are EON new, AFP say EON new is used for new sites and the four courts without bill are under EON new and he cannot get access to the bills
A couple of things you need to know EON next is a rebranding of EON accounts that took place earlier this year, and has nothing to do with our situation.
Eon new is a developer account where EON will not charge a daily standing charge until the house sells and owner moves in, this service did not come into existence until 2020, well after the feed piller were handed over to the Managing Agent.
Leigh’s excuses for not having the electricity sorted does not sound plausible, given that on numerous occasions AFP have been given the Feed Pillar Numbers / Serial number / MPAN numbers and meter reading.
With respect to the excuse that EON new are not contactable and the assertion that the unit rates are all sub 29p kw/h and standing charge is 50.00p per day is just not believable in to days climate. It was also clear that Leigh does not want to engage in the solar option for the court lighting, he’s lack of understanding of how it works was staggering given he had been given the full specification and operational instructions would clearly suggest he never even looked at the idea, and the list of made up issues regarding idea would suggest a hidden AFP agenda.
Leigh admitted the following- “your reserve money will be separated on years end accounts, we can use your reserve to pay invoices and that we can prioritise that money, I am not saying that I am using your reserve fund permanently almost all of the time, if the monies are there we will use them” This would seem they have been using reserve funds from multiple years to cover estate running costs. This could explain why end of year accounts are 2 years late as it give the managing Agent along time with a current account monies they can use with out transferring to the reserve fund.
What he is saying if once the money has been transfer out of the current account to the reserve account it cannot be used, however they decide how much is transferred at the end of the year, it is therefore possible monies you have paid in your service charge bill may never get transferred over to the reserve.
No time frame for election of directors was given and no satisfactory answer to why we are paying for Director Insurance when we have no directors was forth coming other than we do it.
The input from the two original steering group members was virtually non-existent and limited to the orchard and minor gardening issues. The parking issue at the end of the estate next to the flats is still on going, Leigh said he would speak to the council about road signage and traffic calming on Brookhouse lane.
Leigh was asked to chase Joanne about the service strip tarmacking, Leigh said she was doing after the Road adoption yet earlier he said the road was adopted, therefore contradicting he earlier ascertains.
Meeting lasted 1:49:22
View point by B Baxter
This meeting did not address any of the main concerns effecting Bath Vale, it was nothing more than a charm offensive with a myriad off excuses, such as I was not here when this happened it was not my responsibility, your one and only director did not have the courtesy to attend and sent an inaccurate cheat sheet for Leigh Pemberton to use, non of the explanations added up and in some cases were down right erroneous, AFP and Joanne Morrison were trying to take the credit for solutions that were not there’s and were acted on by other concerned residents, the promises made were a rehash of the repeated promises over the last four years to the steering group, who’s two remaining original members were virtually silent until the orchard was raised as a topic, no challenge was made from either of them about the accounts and the total lack of transparency.
This observer believes this meeting only took place because AFP was being challenge externally of the Steering Group which is appointed by AFP so they can control the narrative, a dozen years have elapsed since the start of Bath Vale and nothing has been resolved.
The accounts are erroneous, works promised have never been done, planning permission has not been adhered to, large costs are being manoeuvred over to the residents for after election of directors, and the road adoption would not happened if our local MP had not helped out. Nothing I heard on Monday 7th November from AFP, gives hope that our Fleece hold situation is likely to improve or be resolved.
Brett
Meeting opened with a passive aggressive monologue by Leigh Pemberton on what our responsibilities under the TP1 are, and how we are lucky not to be with a fixed managing agent that we could not change, so we should be thankful we are not in a fleece or leasehold position. If we are not in a fleece hold properties what are we in? given the Managing Agents can charge what they want, take commissions of all services provided and situation can go on as long as we own the properties fleece hold is the only explanation.
It is clear from the opening monologue even though we effectively are paying AFP, they have no loyalty to us and they are employed by Bovis/Vistry. Effectively we are in a fleece hold situation until we become directors.
Fiona Bruce has advised that it would be extremely detrimental if any resident put themselves forward before all the issues have been addressed, if someone was to do so they would become liable for all the issue’s and the accounts.
Joanne Morrison will be handing the woodland over very shortly, Leigh raised the woodland plan for 2010 and glossed over the plan and non implementation that it was SDL fault after 2013, however he insisted that Bovis handed over management in 2013 to SDL when in fact it was 2015.
A script from Joanne Morrison handed out to all that states 2013 being the handover date when in fact it was 2015 this can be verified on your account for 2016, which were zero and £10330.32p was handed over to SDL from Bovis, so for the first 5 years the Woodland it was in Bovis hands and no work was done, according to Joanne Morrison the Woodland was taken back into Bovis Management in 2017 so for 8 of the 10 years the Woodland was neglected by Bovis.
The same document implies that Bovis set up a steering group when it was elected by the residents some years ago. The handed out document from AFP is full of in accuracies such as on the night of the meeting it was claimed that the road was adopted that is not the case, on the 5/10/22 Cheshire east said the following, “A vesting Certificate from the S104 of the water industries act is always required before adoption process of Section 38 of the Highways act can be completed”
They went on to say that the local water authority United Utilities had still not issued the S104 vesting certificate. On Monday 10th October confirmation was received that after communication from Fiona Bruce there are a number of official documents to support the above. The outcome is the road adoption has been completed after the intervention of some concerned resident and Fiona Bruce and not through anything Bovis or AFP did. The outstanding question is what did Joanne Morrison stand to gain from the last two years saying that the Vesting S104 was complete when it was not and delaying the road adoption.
Leigh Pemberton failed to adequately address why there were multiple versions of the Woodland Plan for 2020, the only plan he refereed too was the March 2021 revised version which was not the one presented to the Steering Group in November 2020 and agreed was a good plan. So what is left is a plan which reduced by 50% due to a paragraph re-wording, while the contractor were on site it was discussed with the tree surgeons and they when asked are they going to the 10 meter line the reply was “no we are only going to 5 meters as instructed”.
Leigh Pemberton said during the meeting that contrary to Joanne Morrison reports and emails, “they did not sign it off to a point”, Emma Hood only confirmed work had been done”.
Leigh ascertained that all the work that needs to be done has been except for few items that will be done under what they term as winter works, these are items that have been repeatedly promised for year and years.
Nine minutes into the meeting Leigh Pemberton said “bare in mind we work for Vistry they do not work for us”
Leigh could not answer the questions about multiple woodland plans and stated inaccurate dates for plans and insisted Emma Hood had signed off the Woodland. Leigh came up with an implausible reason that the Woodland Plan has been changed but insisted no maintenance was not an issue.
Himalayan Balsam was raised and a promised to be paid for the next three years by Bovis, monies will be transferred to AFP, and the amount of £15k was discussed. Any tree or damage done by falling tree will be on your own insurance not the Public Liability. All works have no time for completion only a vague sometime next year before the nesting season.
The accounts now magically look good, the reserve which was £7k two months ago is now £23k and the current account which was £1k is now £10k and the payment by Bovis for Himalayan Balsam will be in a separate account not hypothecated for the work, the quote for the Balsam was £20k over 4 years, it remains to be seen if Bovis hand over the money.
If AFP are to be believed the current state of the accounts.
Reserve £23000
Current £10.000
Debtor £18,000
Balsam £ unknown amount from Bovis anticipated £15000 from quotation by IWS, the question to be asked is how did we go from little to no reserves and no money in the current account in such a short space of time to lofty figures from Leigh, where did the £16k jump in the reserves come from, where did the £9000 in the current account come from if the debtors amount has not reduced.
Leigh indicated that the court users had been under credited on 2020 accounts, and this will be credited next year, he also indicated that a £30 credit per property would be coming for 2021, although no accounts have yet been produced for 2021, if we put that into perspective that is £3780, every year since 2017 the surplus has been north of £10k and we should have received £80.00 credit for each property, where is the other £5.2k.
We will have to wait for the accounts to be published, but past history would suggest they need to be checked thoroughly, end of year accounts should not take this long to do unless something is being hidden like the £4500 from 2020 accounts that has disappeared. Which no reasonable transparent explanation has yet been forth coming.
Leigh said that the reserves were carried over at year end so in January 2021 why were the reserves £16k short and the £16k only appeared in time for the meeting on the 7th November.
Leigh Pemberton indicated that out of the seven courts they only have electricity bills for 3 courts and after years of charging for electricity had no idea what we are being charged, we have been pursuing the electricity charges for 3 years and the managing agents have been unable to sort this out, the current excuse is EON next and EON new, the 3 courts they have bill for is EON next and the other 4 are EON new, AFP say EON new is used for new sites and the four courts without bill are under EON new and he cannot get access to the bills
A couple of things you need to know EON next is a rebranding of EON accounts that took place earlier this year, and has nothing to do with our situation.
Eon new is a developer account where EON will not charge a daily standing charge until the house sells and owner moves in, this service did not come into existence until 2020, well after the feed piller were handed over to the Managing Agent.
Leigh’s excuses for not having the electricity sorted does not sound plausible, given that on numerous occasions AFP have been given the Feed Pillar Numbers / Serial number / MPAN numbers and meter reading.
With respect to the excuse that EON new are not contactable and the assertion that the unit rates are all sub 29p kw/h and standing charge is 50.00p per day is just not believable in to days climate. It was also clear that Leigh does not want to engage in the solar option for the court lighting, he’s lack of understanding of how it works was staggering given he had been given the full specification and operational instructions would clearly suggest he never even looked at the idea, and the list of made up issues regarding idea would suggest a hidden AFP agenda.
Leigh admitted the following- “your reserve money will be separated on years end accounts, we can use your reserve to pay invoices and that we can prioritise that money, I am not saying that I am using your reserve fund permanently almost all of the time, if the monies are there we will use them” This would seem they have been using reserve funds from multiple years to cover estate running costs. This could explain why end of year accounts are 2 years late as it give the managing Agent along time with a current account monies they can use with out transferring to the reserve fund.
What he is saying if once the money has been transfer out of the current account to the reserve account it cannot be used, however they decide how much is transferred at the end of the year, it is therefore possible monies you have paid in your service charge bill may never get transferred over to the reserve.
No time frame for election of directors was given and no satisfactory answer to why we are paying for Director Insurance when we have no directors was forth coming other than we do it.
The input from the two original steering group members was virtually non-existent and limited to the orchard and minor gardening issues. The parking issue at the end of the estate next to the flats is still on going, Leigh said he would speak to the council about road signage and traffic calming on Brookhouse lane.
Leigh was asked to chase Joanne about the service strip tarmacking, Leigh said she was doing after the Road adoption yet earlier he said the road was adopted, therefore contradicting he earlier ascertains.
Meeting lasted 1:49:22
View point by B Baxter
This meeting did not address any of the main concerns effecting Bath Vale, it was nothing more than a charm offensive with a myriad off excuses, such as I was not here when this happened it was not my responsibility, your one and only director did not have the courtesy to attend and sent an inaccurate cheat sheet for Leigh Pemberton to use, non of the explanations added up and in some cases were down right erroneous, AFP and Joanne Morrison were trying to take the credit for solutions that were not there’s and were acted on by other concerned residents, the promises made were a rehash of the repeated promises over the last four years to the steering group, who’s two remaining original members were virtually silent until the orchard was raised as a topic, no challenge was made from either of them about the accounts and the total lack of transparency.
This observer believes this meeting only took place because AFP was being challenge externally of the Steering Group which is appointed by AFP so they can control the narrative, a dozen years have elapsed since the start of Bath Vale and nothing has been resolved.
The accounts are erroneous, works promised have never been done, planning permission has not been adhered to, large costs are being manoeuvred over to the residents for after election of directors, and the road adoption would not happened if our local MP had not helped out. Nothing I heard on Monday 7th November from AFP, gives hope that our Fleece hold situation is likely to improve or be resolved.
Brett
Court Lights We have tried to obtain the specific details of our energy supply from AFP on multiple occasions but to date the information is not forthcoming, AFP have yet to confirm current prices for court yards lights, what we do know is that the court lights are not on domestic rates and are unprotected by the current energy cap and 2021 budget for electricity is significantly under the real cost. Domestic Cap;- 34p kw/hour and 0.46 per day. The average court uses 360 kw/hours per year, therefore if the domestic rate was applied the electricity cost would be:- 365 days x 0.46p = £167.90 360 kw/h x 0.34p = £122.40 Total £290.03 The effective rate for kw/h being 0.80p kw/hour. This is the absolute minimum cost however we are not on Domestic rate, the only bill we have ever had site off was for Court G dated 4 th February 2021 the unit price at that time was 0.27p kw/hour and £1.04p per day standing charge. Twice the price of the then domestic rate, ie 0.15p kw/hour and 26p per day standing charge. We have put a proposal forward for consideration by AFP to install commercial solar street lights, which they have rejected with out any consideration, the installation would reduce the electricity cost to zero per court. The lamps sourced run on the following parameters:- At dusk the lamp switch on to 30% of there rated output, 300 to 500 lumens, they run though until dawn at this level, to given you an ideal of the light delivered it is about 70 % of the light you currently get from the 2x45 watt led lamps you currently have. The movement detector increase the light to 1000 lumens which is brighter than the current lamps once movement stops the lamps revert back to 30 %, One full charge will last 16 hours plus and the panels are suitable for low light. The sourced lamps are £180.00 each and two for each court would be required, they would be fitted to the existing lamps at approx 16ft above the ground, once there are proven to be reliable the mains electricity would be disconnected resulting in a zero charge. The idea is to do this on Court E first to prove the concept and if it works roll it out to other courts with there agreement. There are other item to factor in every time a bulb fails on the Led lamps it is a minimum £700 to have it replaced, this has already happened on a number of times. Pro’s and Con’s Electricity cost reduced to zero Less light light pollution Cost effective maintenance cost if any 5 year guarantee Operational during blackout’s and the energy cuts predicted for this winter. Higher operational output when motion activated. Adjustable outputs to suit the court layout Negligible installation cost Security of cost, managing agent can not over charge or make a margin for themselves. The business energy price cap is double the current rate and is only for 6 months, therefore the saving in the short term and medium term will be substantial. The capital cost will be returned in the first 6 months. Con’s Non that are currently foreseen. Conclusion There does not seem to be any disadvantage in moving the courts to Solar Street lights, the capital costs are low and represent only six months off electric bills based on the low estimate of capped domestic charges, however business charges have a max fixed price of double our current costs which AFP have repeatedly refused to give us the information despite being given regular meter readings/ serial number and MPAN codes. With no energy bills the managing agent can not make a margin on the electricity charge and have less control over our lives, it will also reduce there reason for applying a court management charge which other agents do not charge for. The purpose of calculating the cost we have used double the domestic rate as the cost, this however is conservative considering some of the meters on the estate show the standing charge to be £1.04 p per day before the increase on the 1 st October, the table below show the court lighting cost as low domestic tariff and medium for the capped for 6 months business tariff and high for the price after the 6 months cap is lifted. Total Individual Court Users Low Dom Cap Med Com High Com Low Dom Cap Med Com High Com 10 £290.00 £660.00 £858.00 £29.00 £66.00 £85.80 9 £290.00 £660.00 £858.00 £32.25 £73.34 £95.34 8 £290.00 £660.00 £858.00 £36.25 £82.50 £107.25 7 £290.00 £660.00 £858.00 £41.43 £92.29 £122.57 6 £290.00 £660.00 £858.00 £48.34 £110.00 £143.00 5 £290.00 £660.00 £858.00 £58.00 £132.00 £171.16 The budget pricing is for 2x45 watt Led lights, which is excessive even on the domestic rate. Click To Paste Click To Paste
Hello everyone. SDL have started the process of Management Fee collection from residents who have withheld payment for a number of personal reasons. We have no knowledge of individual cases so please be assured that, unless you have shared this with us, your information is strictly confidential. We have been informed that residents have been told that the Steering Group has given permission for the harsh credit control actions that some of you will have experienced. We would like to inform you that this is not the case at all. What we actually discussed with SDL was resolving individual issues with residents so that there was a positive way forward and reassurance given. This will be the focus of our meeting tomorrow evening (Thursday 22nd October) and if anyone would like us to raise anything on your behalf please get in touch. If any of you are experiencing difficulties with Credit Control please email Ashlea White ( Ashlea.White@sdlproperty-management.co.u k ) and copy in Joanne Morrison ( joanne.morrison@bovishomes.co.uk ). Please ask to discuss your issues in person and if this doesn't work please check out the complaints procedure and follow the steps. Bovis are in the process of finishing off all the outstanding works required for the road to be adopted by Cheshire East (see list below). They are also in the process of completing work on the drains below the woods, cutting down dangerous trees, treating Himylayan Balsam in the area of the landslide and, ultimately, planting to bind , and prevent slippage of, top soil. A woodland plan is being prepared as we speak. This will include clearing, where possible, a 10 meter zone below the woods and between the houses which will be low shrubs for wild habitat, and a second zone behind where trees will be coppiced allowing light into the woodland and, again, with a view to encouraging wildlife. The rest of the woodland will be left as it is but will be inspected regularly to ensure it is safe. Some of this is due to take place immediately, where there is a safety issue, and other actions will be in the short, medium to long term (up to 25 years). We will publish the plan when it is complete. The orchard is looking lovely and to stop the soil being washed down the road there is a plan to lay a sturdy, specialist layer on the drive up and over plant it with grass. Thus it won't be damaged by machinery needed to mow the grass etc. We say goodbye to Bennets and welcome Simon Hopkin, Well Grounded , who is taking over the gardening contract from 1st November. This is a local firm and it is great to support local businesses. Simon is happy to speak to residents so do say hello when you see them on site. If you have any concerns or have any questions please get in touch with us and we will respond as soon as we are able to. Best wishes, Steering group. Work to be completed. Gully grid broken outside number 170 2- seal blocks key kerbs with sharp sand outside number 170 Take out broken drop kerb outside number 168 Clean out gullys check caps are installed general throughout site ,a lot filled with tarmac from remedial works by Mathews and Leigh Take out 6x5 bullnose kerbs and replace tarmac Take out kerb by number 99 Bollard move back from kerb edge to 450mm by number95 Bench gully by number114-116 Fix back fence and posts on west side of development Outside number 96 remove chippings from tarmac as to excessive Kerb loose and patch area by bt box outside number 85 Edgings need resetting outside number75 Tidy up edgings by grit bin and level land and straighten edgings West retaining wall not shown on adoption plan needs to be added to drawings Retaining wall needs 40 number bricks replacing as they have perished Concrete outfall now fitted but needs concrete surround the top Still saw and repair damaged kerb outsidenumber61 Number 57 tarmac patch replace as it as sunk 6x5 take out and replace + tarmac by number51 Radius to reinstate by number 50 replace kerb and dropper rocking outside number 56 replace footpath on both sides of the road from number 50-62 bt box point up around outside number68 repair chip in kerb outside number 86 re heat channel and roll it to fall and not hold water outside number86 number 86 block lipping replace broken kerb number90 number 92 kerb needs straightening acos need taking out and replacing with block paving outside number 96 patch by lamppost number 112 number116 take out acos and replace with block pavers loose kerbs outside number 140-142 garage take out acos and replace with block pavers outside number 116 number 146 repair kerbs point up bollard by number148 take out acos by number160 and block pave
The steering group had a meeting with Joanne Morrison (Bovis) yesterday which was very positive. The highlights of the meeting were as follows. Drains at the bottom of Southwoods. We have long held concerns about the drainage at the bottom of Southwoods which we believe has resulted in surface water, flooded gardens and, potentially, the recent landslide. Bovis commissioned a new survey two weeks ago and this has identified issues which need addressing. Corrective work is going to be done to make the drainage effective and further tests in some places to identify blockages etc. Good news for those living at the bottom of that stretch of woods. Road works and drains: You will of course know that work has started on the manhole sections along the road and you will all have received letters about this work. Originally the road was going to be patched around this work, which we have been strongly critical of, but now the decision has been reversed and the whole road will be resurfaced. This will be a disruptive time for many of you but we hope it won't cause too much difficulty getting into and out of the estate . Top field: Today is the day that the fencing is due to be completed and we have reminded Joanne Morrison about the fencing by the bridge which needs completion. She will remind the contractors. We know several of you want this space for allotments but that will be a discussion for SDL at the meeting next week . Border Fencing Brookhouse Lane: This is in hand and we will be notified of the action to be taken. Woodland: It was agreed that the 10 year woodland plan published in 2010, and the report put together by the Steering Group last year, will be reviewed and a plan put together for schedule of action. In this way we can involve Cheshire East in the plans approval instead of contacting them each time we need to do work on protected trees. Meeting schedule: It was agreed to have regular contact with Joanne Morrison every two weeks until the work is complete.
The woodland: Work goes on with a number of people involved including the Officer responsible for Tree Preservation orders in Cheshire East. Any permission required by Cheshire East takes 8 to 12 weeks to come through so it is slow work. We have been informed that the woodlands were handed over to SDL two years ago and so maintenance is their responsibility with, ultimately, costs passed down to residents. There are a few outstanding issues that Bovis have identified for completion including, cutting a path through the top field, removing a few overhanging branches and reviewing/repairing the boundary fencing up Brookhouse Lane. Another report is being commissioned currently and this will form the basis of a Woodland Management Plan. This will be repeated each year. We have talked repeatedly about the 10 year Woodland Plan that was in place in 2010, and tried to hold Bovis to account, but this now appears to have no currency since it was handed over to SDL. It is a definite NO from Bovis to putting the Woodlands in decent order . We are concerned that going forward this is going to be a considerable cost to SDL and thus the residents. Flooding: Bovis inform us that the French drains at the bottom of South Woods (where we get all the flooding and surface water) was adequately installed although needs clearing. We believe this isn’t the case and if it wasn’t installed correctly, and in the right place, then this would contribute to the flooding in gardens nearby and to the land slide. The flooding in the gardens is now a private Customer Care issue and not a Bovis issue unless those drains can be seen to be dysfunctional. Drains and Road resurfacing : Work will commence on the drains and road on the 1st of July. You should be sent an official notification about this. Work is estimated to last up to 16 weeks but the road will not be blocked entirely so traffic can get through. There is still no commitment to completely re-tarmac the whole of the road. We have been in contact with the Highways Agency and they have been in contact with Bovis but there still appears to be no resolution on a complete resurfacing. The damaged Acco drains will be replaced at the same time as the road is being worked on – but only the front line ones on the entrance to the courtyards. Courtyard drains and gully's: SDL are getting in quotes for the clearing of these drains and gullies on a frequent basis . Gardeners: Currently 5 companies have been approached for the gardening contract; two of these close to Congleton. Gas leak: You will have seen the Gas company at the entrance to the estate digging up the road to replace or repair the old pipes. Residents meeting: 16th July at 6 pm on Zoom. SDL will be writing to all residents in the coming weeks and as part of this communication, details of how to join the Zoom call will be included. Residents need to familiarise themselves with Zoom so they can attend the meeting and we are happy to help with this. We hope as many of you as possible can attend. Some items for discussion will include 2019 accounts, estate management going forward with Bovis withdrawing later on in the year, and the use of the top field . If anyone has anything they would like adding to the agenda, please let Ashlea/ us know..
As many of you are aware we had a site visit on Wednesday from Joanne Morrison, Managing Director, Vistry Homes (formally known as Bovis). Below is her email report and action plan. There are several things we have queried (and have done for many months) and these include: Woodland: Our report has, by and large, been ignored and we don't accept that Bovis has left the woodland in the condition it should have been in on hand over. Apparently the woodlands were handed over to the Management Company some time ago and we are querying when this was and if the Management Company accepted responsibility when it wasn't in a manageable condition. Much work needs to be done in coppicing, dead tree removal, fencing repairs etc. and this will become a huge expense for residents if not sorted now. The fencing at the top of South woods, on Brookhouse Lane, has not been repaired or replaced and still remains open in parts for fly tipping. This has not been resolved and we have asked about future action on this. Drains / Road: As you can see from the email below, works starts on the 1st of July. The intention is to resurface strips and not the whole road. We have informed Bovis that this is not acceptable because of the 'look' but also that it will have weak spots across the joins. We believe that it should be completely resurfaced so that it is left in the best condition possible. To this end we have written to Fiona Bruce, MP, and to the Highways Agency. Acco drains in private drives: We have asked for clarification on this as we can't give permission if on private drives. However, we think Joanne Morrison is talking about the drains on the courtyard entrances. The intention is to remove the acco drains which are not fit for purpose and replace them with a concrete gully. We need your opinion on the replacement of these. Residents meeting: We have asked Ashlea White to organise a residents meeting before the start of the road works and have suggested either Tuesday the 23rd or Thursday the 25th June . This will be in Zoom. When confirmed you will get an invitation (you will need to make sure that you have the Zoom App installed on a suitable device). We intend to invite Councillor Rob Morton, Councillor Kay Wesley and Fiona Bruce, MP. We have written this morning to Fiona Bruce to fully update her and this will be copied to the relevant Councillors, along with Joanne Morrisons email. We are also creating an online petition to ask for the issues to be discussed in the House of Commons. Usually this has to be done with signatures but Fiona Bruce has said that, at this difficult time, she will ask that an electronic one be accepted as long as we can vouch that residents themselves have agreed to sign. We will be in touch when this is available. Please contact us with your thoughts. Joanne Morrisons email: 4th June 2020 Hi all As you will know I visited the site today and firstly I was stunned with the difference on the site from a maintenance point of view from the last time I was there. I could really see a big change and the estate is a lovely peaceful place to live. Just so that the Steering Committee are aware I have copied in a couple of Bovis people to this email to action the points we discussed to day within it. Tree Works – The tree works in our report were carried out by our contractor last week. Ashlea, I am now handing this over to you and if you need anything else on this then please let me know. A lady has contacted me about some further works to the TPO tree at the front and whilst I was on site 2 other residents contacted me about the trees at the back of them. Ashlea – can you let me know when your tree guy is going out as if not soon I might get Matt to pop out to the concerned resident. Perhaps we can have chat about the organisation of this? Drains – All of the drains on the private drive have been jetted last week. Ashlea, I am now handing these over to the Management Company for further maintenance if needs be. In particular the drain behind the apartments at the back next to the bank will need regular jetting. I found out today whilst I had my Head of Technical with me that the French drain behind the timber fence drains into this drain and so this drain will get clogged up if it is not jetted. This is turn will cause the French drain not to work correctly and then there will be standing water in the area. He suggested a regular jetting be set up for this. Acco drains on private drives – We looked at these today with our contractor and also spoke to some residents. To be honest if we replace the acco drain the same thing is going to happen and this is going to be an ongoing maintenance issue for the management company. We are happy to replace the acco drains on the private drives with a concrete gully instead which will do the same job and require less maintenance. If you can confirm whether you are happy with this, I will go ahead and get this instructed. Please note some of the acco drains will remain in adopted areas as these need to be provided as part of the adopted works. Adoptable Sewers and Headwall – We met with Paul Cunningham from UU today who has now reviewed the CCTV for the estate as I reported at the last meeting. Paul is broadly happy with the sewers but there are some defects works that need to be done and the headwall does also need to be installed. Our Contractors have agreed to start these works from 1st July for a 10 -12 week programme. Access will be provided at all times and they will work on one side of the road at a time. They will start from the top of the estate and work down to the bottom. The works will involve cutting round the manholes and pulling them out to carry out some works in the sewers – this is predominately to the manhole itself but does on occasion involve some works to the sewer itself. Once the works have been carried out to the manhole, a temporary patch of tarmac will be placed round the manhole. The provision of the acco drains and the bits in Roger’s report will be picked up at the same time. Once all manholes are done then our contractor will be re-doing some of the surface to the estate roads. The HRA surfacing or which is the surfacing on the corners with chippings in will be replaced in full. On the SMR or normal tarmac parts a patch will be done which they assure me will look neat with a tar seal. Once this is done we will hopefully obtain UU’s approval and the sewers can be adopted and the road can go from maintenance to full adoption. Area at the top of the hill – We then walked the area at the top of the hill. I have asked my Area Build Director to get some people together with a skip and clear this area of the herrace fencing. Where necessary this will then be replace with a post and rail fencing. I will then ask our landscaper to strim a mown path through the area following the ad hoc path which has been created and we will place some signage up stating that this is The Bath Vale Residents Association nature reserve to try to discourage any improper use. Can you let me have your thoughts around this as I do think it would finish this area off nicely. Woodland walk at the back of the estate – I attach a photo of this area, but I am afraid I could not see a path through where a dog poo bin could be placed (Picture 1 below) – also my team immediately said that anywhere into the woodland would be difficult to empty from a dog poo bin point of view. They suggested placing this on the private drive just at the entrance to the woodland (3rd Picture below).
On Friday the 14th of February we met with Fiona Bruce MP at her offices in Meadowside. The main focus of the meeting was to discuss the road issues, flooding, woodland and SDL. Ms Bruce has already spoken in the House of Commons about Bovis and the Loachbrook estate; the second of these speeches was the day before we met. We have uploaded her speech into the files section for you all to read. Ms Bruce is concerned about Bovis in regard to their performance on developments such as ours and she is aware of their current amalgamation with the Vistry group. She has asked for more information and quotes about our experiences and we will try and gather these in the next few days ( if anyone wants to submit anything relevant please do so through the contacts page ). She has also said that it is difficult to get issues raised in Parliament so one way to address this is to submit a petition to her from residents of Bath Vale and we will be 'door knocking' asking for signatures from those willing to support this. Sadly Ms Bruce is unable to come to our meeting on the 27th as she has a prior engagement but we will be joined by two Councillors (from Congleton East and East Cheshire). Regarding Management Companies, this is a more difficult issue to address. The MP leading on this nationally did not retain her/his seat in the last elections and there appears to be no-one at the moment taking this forward. Additional Note: Bovis have yet to answer why they have disconnected the power to schedule 4/5 courts and parking area at the bottom of the estate. We are working on this as a matter of urgency as it is a health and safety issue.
After the high winds today we hope that everyone is safe and sound. Stuart Holt has emailed Ashlea White about the tree that has come down and about the flooded garden so we hope that this will get some attention this week. This blog is just to tell you that we have posted copies of some letters in the files section today and spreadsheets will follow. We encourage you to view these letters so that you are aware of what is happening and what the working group are currently tackling. We will post any responses for your information as and when we receive any. You also need to know this information before our next residents meeting on the 27th of February 2020 at 7.30 at the Cheshire Tavern. If you can't get there please let us know and we can see if lifts can be arranged. Also can you let us know through the contact page if you are able to attend. We really would appreciate as many people as possible coming to the meeting. We look forward to seeing you there.
The working party have been working on behalf of the residents of Bath Vale and we do our best to feedback to you all. Our role is to challenge, feedback and recommend to SDL but the ultimate decisions are SDLs to make. The 2020 Service charge received today is ‘anticipated’ not actual. We have still got outstanding queries with the accounts of previous years which we are challenging and hope to get this sorted soon. At the February residents meeting (27th Feb at 7.30 pm) we hope that these accounts will be discussed and agreed. If you have any queries or concerns please emails us through the website. Any personal issues with your account or property should be directed to Ashlea White. Please note we have a meeting with SDL and Bovis on Thursday 30th of January so if you have any queries or concerns please let us know as soon as possible through the Contact Us form. Please also note that the updated snag list can be found in the files section.
You will have heard or seen that the fencing towards the back of the estate has been opened up to reveal a valley beyond Timbers Brook. I have called it a valley because the north and south woods rear up either side . There was already a concrete bridge in place but contractors have made the bridge safe'ish by putting up railings. Stephen Douglas has made his way to the back of the valley to explore the land and he kindly took us down there today ( thanks Stephen ). The valley is marsh land and has an overgrowth of new saplings, marsh plants, brambles and other ground spreading plants so you can imagine it is difficult to find a way through easily. Timbers Brook flows down the right side at the bottom of the south woods Anyone going down there do please be careful, wear boots or wellingtons and it is probably safer not to take children. We asked for it to be opened up and now we have to decide what we want to do about it. Probably the cost of clearing and maintaining part of it would be prohibitive but it may be nice to have a cleared walkway through it (although there is no exit at any other point) to be in the thick of nature etc. Do have a walk through and let us know what you think. PS If you want to go to the far side you need to climb up the North Woods bank a little and come back down again but remember that there is a garden on the far side that is private property.
Contact Details
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