WATERWAYS
MANAGEMENT
COMPANY
MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEE
MEETING
NO
61
Minutes
of
the
meeting
held
on Tuesday
15
March 2016 at
7.30pm
Present:
Adrian
Olsen
(Chair),
Tao
Tao
Chou, Sally
Duncan,
Ann
Hall,
Imogen
Olsen,
Paula
Reynolds,
Louise
Robertson, Hilary
Sorensen, Raquel
Stremme
In
attendance:
Rebecca
Burt and
Rachel
Dolacinksi,
FirstPort
Property
Services
Minute
taker:
Imogen
Olsen
1 Apologies for
absence
1.1 Greg
Barnes, Adrian
Mourby, Nicholas
Orme, Sowon
Park,
Mary
Tovey
2 Minutes Approval
of
the
minutes
from
meeting
60,
12 January
2016
2.1 The
minutes
were
approved
as
an
accurate
record.
3 Matters
arising
from
the
minutes
3.1 The
Apartment
Blocks
Sub-‐Committee
is still
considering
whether
to
seek
a
second
opinion
survey
on
the
problematic
lift
in
Complins
Close.
4 Welcome
to
The
Waterways
booklet
4.1 The
draft
has
been
delayed
but
is
now
expected
by
the
end
of
March.
5 Railway
line
developments
5.1 The
City
Council’s
West
Area
Planning
Committee
met
on
9
February
2016
and
accepted
all
conditions
and
mitigation
measures
(including
acoustic
glazing)
put
forward
by
Network
Rail
for
section
I/1.
The
Chair
made
a
presentation
to
the
Committee
expressing
residents’
concerns
over
excessive
noise,
vibration
and
diesel
fumes
pollution.
The
Committee
imposed
noise
and
vibration
testing
measures,
which
will
take
place
over
a
number
of years,
and
gave
Network
Rail
three
months
to
report
on
how
noise
mitigation
at
source
(in
effect
Tata’s
silent
track)
could
be
implemented
or
give
reasons
why
not.
These
are
the
same
conditions
previously
imposed
on
Network
Rail
for
section
H
(Wolvercote).
Network
Rail
therefore
now
has approval
to
start
work.
The
Tata
silent
track
will
be
tested
in
the
Wolvercote
section,
although
the
residents
there
are
expressing
great
concern
over
how
this
will
be
done
and
the
timescale.
6 Sub-‐committee
news
round-‐up
6.1 Finance
Sub-‐Committee
6.1.1 The
new budget
being
imminent,
the
Chair
agreed
to
ask
a
director
whether
she
was
now
able
to
return
to
help
with
this.
If
so,
FirstPort
would
liaise
with
the
director.
The
deadline
is
in
late
April.
2
6.2 Apartment
Blocks
Sub-‐Committee
6.2.1 Section
20
consultation
notices
have gone
out
regarding
the
replacement
carpets
for
three
blocks
in
Frenchay
Road.
First
notices
were
due
to
go
out
regarding
redecoration
within
the
next
two
weeks.
6.2.2 There
have
been
no
further
problems
with
the lift
at
Complins
Close.
The
Kone
contract
is
due
to
expire
soon,
and
the
Apartments
Block
Sub-‐Committee
will
discuss
whether
to
renew
it
or
change
to
another
supplier.
6.2.3 There
are
now
several
leaks
in
apartment
block
roofs.
Some
have
been
repaired,
but
all
contractors
approached
have
recommended
that
the
flat
roofs
now
be
replaced
as
patch
repairs
are
unsatisfactory and
short-‐term. A
survey
of
all
19
blocks
is
to
be
carried
out
at
a
cost
of£1500.
A
plan
of
action
can
then
be
drawn
up,
giving
priority to
the
most
urgently
required
replacements.
It
is
hoped
that
a
programme
of
works
can
be
started
this
summer.
It
was
suggested
that
an
asset
management
fund
would
help
with
planning
for
large-‐
scale
expenditure.
This
would
have
to
be
agreed at
an AGM.
6.2.4 A
director
had
met
a
resident
from
2-‐32
Elizabeth
Jennings
Way
to
discuss
mail
box
thefts
in
that
block.
As
a
result,
FirstPort
have
changed
the
locks
on
the
boxes
and
adjusted
the
trade
bell.
There
has
been
another request
for
the
installation
of
CCTV,
which
the
Apartment
Blocks
Sub-‐Committee
will
consider.
6.2.5 There
has
been some progress
on
the
problem
of
short-‐term
lets,
in
that
we
now
have
two
specific
addresses
in
Complins
Close
and
Elizabeth
Jennings
Way.
The
owner
of
one
of
these
apartments
has said
she
was
not
aware
of
what
was
going
on,
has
apologised
and
agreed
to
ensure
it
doesn’t
happen
again.
The
other
address
will
be
monitored
and
the
relevant
lettings
agency,
Penny
&
Sinclair,
will
also
be
monitored
by
FirstPort for
advertising
short-‐term
lets.
6.2.6 The
question
of
new
signage
for
blocks
around
the
estate
will
be
discussed
at
the
next
Apartment
Blocks
Sub-‐Committee
meeting. A
walk-‐around
may
be
necessary
to
work
out
what
signs
need
to
go
where.
It
has
already
been
agreed
that
the
style
to
be
used
will
be
the
latest
used
on
the
GreenSquare
blocks.
6.3 Gardening
Sub-‐Committee
6.3.1 Lanes
for Drains,
on
behalf
of
Thames
Water,
spent
three
days
removing
silt
from
the
balancing
pond next
to
the
canal.
There
is
still
a
lot
of
silt
in
the
wildlife
corridor.
Curt
Lamberth
has
suggested
that
the
Thames
Water
silt
trap
might
be
full.
The
Chair
will
press
Mark
Taylor
at
Thames
Water
for
a
reply
to
his
earlier
email
on
the
subject,
subject
to
Curt
Lamberth’s
findings.
6.3.2 Curt
Lamberth
is
still
awaiting
the
final
lab
analysis
and
will
present
his
report
by
the
end
of
March.
FirstPort
have
chased
Metrorod
regarding
the
survey
of
the
underground
section
of
the
swale
and the report
on
the
levelling of the
swale,
neither
of
which
has
yet
been
done.
3
A
director
will
contact
the
Oxford
Conservation
Volunteers
and
book
them
up
for
another
visit this
summer.
A
director
suggested
that
it
was
now
time
to
start
working
with,
rather
than
against,
Thames
Water
in
finding
solutions
to
the
watercourse
problems. This
was
agreed.
6.3.3 There
has
been
great
progress
with
the
project
to
paint
murals
underneath
the
two
canal
bridges.
Tesco
have
awarded
a
grant
of
£8000 to
the
Canal
and
River
Trust,
Councillor
Liz
Wade
has
given
£300,
and
thirteen
people
have
applied
for
the
position
of
project
manager.
A
meeting
of
the
committee
is
to
be
held
on
18
March
where
among
other
things
a
shortlist
will
be
drawn
up,
and
interviews
will
subsequently
be
held.
6.3.4 Tree
works
behind
Cox’s
Ground
and
Stone
Meadow
have
been
stalled
by
Network
Rail,
who
have
now
told
MBS
that
the
main
line
will
have
to
be
closed
in
order
to
carry
out
the
work.
This
would
cost
us
upwards
of
£100,000 and
in
addition
one
or
two
banksmen
would
be
required
at
a
cost
of
£1500-‐2000
per
day.
As
this
is
clearly
ridiculous,
it
was
decided
to
take
the
matter
to
a
higher
level
at
Network
Rail.
FirstPort
will
find
out
who
to
contact.
Meanwhile,
it
seems
unlikely
that
these
trees
will
be
thinned
this
winter.
6.3.5 Another
successful
bike
cull
in
January
resulted
in
the
removal
of
more
bicycles. The
racks
are
now
quite
clear
and
the
next
cull
will
probably
be
done
at
the
end
of
the
year.
6.3.6 It
was
agreed
that
paths
are
probably
necessary
in
muddy
areas
by
the
steps
to the
lake,
on
the
green
by
the
canal,
and
across
the
green
at
the
bottom
of
Frenchay
Road.
Details
will
be
discussed
at
the
next
meeting
of
the
Gardening
Sub-‐Committee.
6.4 Scrutiny
Sub-‐Committee
6.4.1 A
response
is still
awaited
from
the
FirstPort
legal
department
to
the
WMC
mark-‐up
on
the
new
draft
management
agreement.
6.5 Feedback
6.5.1 There
had
been
no
messages
to
Feedback
since
the
last
committee
meeting.
7 WRACIC
7.1 FirstPort
will
check
that
the
WMC
grant
to
WRACIC
has
been
paid.
A
director
is
organising
an
Easter
treasure
hunt,
a
newsletter
is
due
to
go
out
just
before
Easter,
and
a
summer
event
is
planned
for
10
September.
8 Managing
agent
8.1 The
Health
and
Safety
expert
found
no
reason
against
installing
a
ramp
at
the
back
of
the
Crescent.
Evergreen
will
provide
a
quote
for
the
work,
which
should
include
a
rail
and
a
non-‐slip
surface. If
Evergreen
can’t
so
the
work,
another
contractor
will
be
asked.
9 AGM
arrangements
9.1 Two
directors
are
to
stand
down
at
the
AGM.
Two
new
possible
directors
have
been
4
found,
so
it
was
decided
not
to
circulate
a
letter
asking
for
volunteers.
FirstPort
will
produce
a draft
agenda
and
a
schedule.
The
Chair
will
produce
the
Chair’s
report,
the
Chair
and
a
director
the
financial
report,
the
Chair
and
a
director the
Gardening
report,
two
directors the
Apartments
report,
and
the
Chair the
Scrutiny
report.
The
Woodstock
Road
Baptist
Church has
been
booked.
10 Any
other
business
10.1 None.
There
have
been
no
recent
planning
applications.
11 Date,
time
and
location
of
future
meetings
11.1 The
following
dates
were
agreed:
10
May,
12
July,
4
October,
29
November
(2016),
17
January,
14
March
(2017)
– all
Tuesdays,
at
7.30
pm
in
the
Community
Room.