WATERWAYS MANAGEMENT COMPANY
Draft Minutes of the MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING NO 102
held at 5.30 pm on Tuesday 16 May 2023
In the Waterways Community Room, Clearwater Place
Present: Adrian Olsen (Chair), Ann Hall, Kate Lack, Nicholas Orme, Aroul Ramadass, Paula Reynolds,
Louise Robertson, Hilary Sorensen, Raquel Stremme
In attendance: Rachel Dolacinski and David Hone, FirstPort Property Services
Minute taker: Imogen Olsen
1 Apologies for absence
1.1 Liz Wheater
2 Approval of the minutes of meeting 101 held on 14 March 2023
2.1 The minutes were approved.
3 Matters arising from the minutes
3.1 (3.3) Although Berkeley Homes had still not responded regarding Cox’s Ground car park,
it was agreed that this matter should be kept on the agenda for the time being.
3.2 (4.1.7) The bin store leak and the roof leak at 3-9 Complins Close had now been repaired.
3.3 (4.2.1) Dave Acorn had been asked to attend to the refurbishment of railings, but he was
now so far behind in his commitments that FirstPort had decided to look for another
contractor. FirstPort had met the Frenchay Road resident who had complained about the
state of the railings and explained the situation to her.
3.4 (4.2.6) The bright bulb replacement in a Stone Meadow street light managed by WMC
had now been swapped for a warm light, and a note had been made to use these warm
lights in future on WMC managed lamps.
3.5 (4.2.8) There had been no further complaints about wood burning in back gardens.
3.6 (4.2.10) A new plan had been received for the remodelling of the front garden in Stone
Meadow. The Chair would forward this to FirstPort for comment.
3.7 (8.1) FirstPort had contacted GreenSquareAccord about the abandoned van full of
rubbish in a GreenSquareAccord car park in Clearwater Place.
3.8 (9.1) The grass on the Green had now recovered from damage inflicted by cyclists during
the winter months, so it was decided not to erect signs to discourage cycling. The
situation would be reviewed next year.
4 Sub-committee reports
4.1 Apartment Blocks Sub-committee
4.1.1 The lift modernisation programme was progressing as scheduled. Hemsworth had now
signed off the work at 44-60 Frenchay Road. A tender for the lift modernisation at 95-113
Frenchay Road has been accepted and now the section 20 process is under way.
4.1.2 The roof and ceiling repairs and redecoration at 31-39 Complins Close had at last been
completed.
4.1.3 There was nothing new to report on the new fire door regulations. Quarterly inspections
were all in hand. FirstPort have liaised directly with apartment owners, many of whom
have acted very quickly to carry out the required alterations.
4.1.4 It was decided to take apartment block heat pumps off the agenda for the time being.
4.1.5 FirstPort had met the resident at 2-32 EJW whose mobility scooter had damaged the lift,
and had now arranged for him to meet a representative of the lift company in an
attempt to find a solution. It was possible that he would have to change his new scooter
for a smaller one.
4.1.6 The bike store door at 56-90 EJW had been vandalised but had now repaired. This was
the second time it had been vandalised, so FirstPort would now keep an eye on it.
4.2 Gardening Sub-committee
4.2.1 There was much discussion about the new paving areas. Evergreen had found another
company to quote after New Driveway pulled out, and their quote for re-paving all the
areas identified and repairing the circle at Clearwater Place is £24,700. It is hoped that
they will be able to use the same blocks from Northern Ireland that had been used
before. The reserve fund is enough to permit a start on the paving work. The urgent
priority was 79-85 Frenchay Road, where some parts of the path are currently
dangerous. FirstPort were pressing for sample bricks.
The quote for repaving private paths leading to front doors in Frenchay Road was £576
per house. FirstPort will offer this option to relevant houses.
4.2.2 The bike cull had gone well, with labelled bikes due to be collected the following week.
4.2.3 There had been no word from WRACIC regarding the proposed new bench for EJW on
the grass area next to the cricket pitch. The Chair suggested that WMC should take over
the organisation of this project, obtain quotes and ask for a contribution from WRACIC.
Evergreen would install the bench. This was agreed. There was a man in Summertown
selling teak benches for £300. A director volunteered to investigate further.
[Subsequently another resident offered to help with the process.]
4.2.4 There had been a request for a ‘Slow – children playing’ sign in Stone Meadow, where
delivery drivers were said to be speeding along the cul de sacs. It was agreed that
FirstPort would write to residents in the two cul de sacs asking if they wanted a sign or indeed a speed bump, although doubt was expressed as to whether a sign would actually
act as a deterrent.
4.2.5 There had been a complaint about rats in Lark Hill. The Chair had written in the latest
Waterways World asking people to clean up around bird feeders. FirstPort had spoken to
the Lark Hill resident and had arranged for Rentokil to place bait boxes in the area.
A director reported that there were moths in her apartment block. The common areas in
this block had been fumigated before, and the carpets were not made of wool, so it was
decided that it was now up to individual apartment owners to take their own anti-moth
measures.
4.2.6 The next walkabout would take place on Tuesday 23 May, starting at 11 am, meet by the
lake.
4.2.7 The lead director for silt clearance suggested that it was time to contact OnSite and
arrange a meeting. The Chair would measure the current levels of silt in the concrete silt
trap.
4.3 Finance
4.3.1 The budget for 2023-24 had now been agreed. It had been necessary to keep the service
charge for apartment blocks high to meet the need for lift modernisations and also for
44-60 Frenchay Road for one more year as the reserves were low after paying for the lift
works.
4.3.2 The post of Treasurer was still vacant. [Subsequently a director volunteered to become
Treasurer.]
4.3.3 There had once again been a delay in applying the new direct debit payments, as had
happened the previous year. FirstPort apologised and explained that it was because the
budget had been set rather later than usual.
The Chair reported difficulties with logging into his FirstPort account, which seemed to
require the creation of a new password every time. FirstPort would investigate and
report back.
5 Feedback
5.1 Nothing to report.
6 Managing agent
6.1 FirstPort reported on progress regarding a number of exterior redecoration jobs and it
was agreed to go ahead with these. It was pointed out that external redecorations
included balconies, which are WMC managed.
The annual Health and Safety risk assessment had been carried out that day for the
whole estate, resulting in only seven minor actions being required. This was a very good
outcome.
7 WRACIC
7.1 A director reported that the Easter Egg Hunt had been a great success, with 55 children
involved. It had been decided not to hold a special Coronation event. The lack of
volunteers was becoming a problem, and it was possible that large-scale events such as
the Summer Barbecue would have to be replaced by less ambitious gatherings.
7.2 The Chair reported that the WRA website, which hosted the WMC web pages, had not
been maintained for some years and now seemed to have developed problems. Both he
and the Secretary had recently been unable to access the WMC section of the site in
order to carry out their regular updates. There was a lengthy discussion about the way
forward. WRACIC has not maintained the general website and it is very out of date,
which is a poor advertisement for The Waterways. There was a suggestion that WMC
should have its own web site, although this is a big undertaking, or that the current WRA
site should be taken down, at least temporarily. The liaison director would consult with
WRACIC and report back.
8 Any other business
8.1 A meeting had been proposed by the Waterside electric vehicle charging group to discuss
progress and compare notes. It was agreed that the Chair and the lead director would
follow up this suggestion.
8.2 Music on the Green had become a regular weekend feature, enjoyed by all who
attended. It was suggested that more publicity might attract a bigger audience. The
performances are currently only announced on Facebook. A director would take this up
with WRACIC.
8.3 There had been a theft inside the entrance hall of 115-141 Frenchay Road behind the
locked front door, where a delivery had been left unattended. Residents had requested
relevant footage from the CCTV camera, but it seems that such footage cannot now be
accessed without a police crime reference number. It was pointed out that such a
number was easy to obtain and this had to be done within a given time frame, but it
seemed the resident did not want to take the matter further.
9 Dates of the next meetings
9.1 2023: 11 July, 12 September, 14 November; 2024: 16 January, 12 March – all at 17.30.
AGM: 21 November 2023 at 19.30.