WATERWAYS MANAGEMENT COMPANY
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING NO 79
7.30 pm, Tuesday 19 March 2019 in the Community Room
Present: Adrian Olsen (Chair), Ann Hall, Adrian Mourby, Nicholas Orme, Paula Reynolds, Louise Robertson, Hilary Sorensen, Raquel Stremme, Mary Tovey
In attendance: Rebecca Burt and Rachel Dolacinski, FirstPort Property Services
Minute taker: Imogen Olsen
1 Apologies for absence
1.1 Tao Tao Chou, Brian Shine, Liz Wheater
2 Minutes
Approval of the minutes from meetings 77 and 78
2.1 The minutes of meeting 78 held on 15 January 2019 were approved. That meeting
having been inquorate, the minutes for meeting 77 held on 20 November 2018 were
approved retrospectively and the name change noted was confirmed.
3 Matters arising from the minutes
3.1 The Living Waterways Award outdoor plaques were now completed but had still not
been erected. The contractors were now due in the area on 3 or 5 April. FirstPort would
instruct them to liaise with a director over the exact location required.
3.2 A mysterious camera had been fixed to a lamppost on the EJW bridge. There was some
debate as to whether this might have something to do with monitoring traffic for the
proposed CPZ, or whether it was filming the canal for some reason. No conclusions were
reached.
4 Negotiations with Berkeley Homes concerning transfer of estate freehold to WMC
4.1 The director in charge of these negotiations had heard nothing further from BH despite
their promises and her continued chasing. We have previously submitted our comments
concerning boundaries and ownership of particular areas. An update had been
requested from BH in time for the AGM. It was agreed that the silt problem needed to
be resolved before the transfer anyway, so WMC would leave the matter in the hands of
BH for the time being.
5 Railway line developments
5.1 Giles Parker had still not sent his report, having been preoccupied with illness, travel
and Brexit matters as Chair of a British Standards working party. As no payment had yet
been made for his services, it was presumed that he would eventually submit his report.
6 Sub-Committee news round-up
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6.1 Finance
6.1.1 A director had submitted a series of questions to FirstPort regarding insurance
commission. An account of FirstPort’s replies was given to the committee. The director
was now satisfied that all had been conducted in a professional manner.
6.2 Apartment Blocks Sub-Committee
6.2.1 There had been a new leak to the roof at 139 Frenchay Road and FirstPort were still
waiting for a second quote to repair this. It had been agreed not to go to Section 20 as
the repair was urgent and owners will be asked to agree to this. The previous repair had
been done very cheaply some years ago but the company responsible would not take
responsibility at this distance in time. It was agreed that it would not be at all cost
effective to take them to court over this.
Three further leaks had all been resolved.
6.2.2 Exterior cleaning and redecoration were awaiting the start of spring.
6..2.3 It was agreed to remove from the agenda the matter of mail addressed to previous
residents which now seems to be an historic rather than a current issue.
6.2.4 There had been no further reports of Airbnb or short-term lets.
6.3 Gardening Sub-Committee
6.3.1 There was lengthy discussion of the problem of refuse bins being stored at the front of
houses. FirstPort had recently issued warning letters to all residents who were in breach
of the restrictive covenant, and had received four replies disagreeing with this new
enforcement policy for various reasons: no rear access (Stone Meadow), access too
difficult for elderly resident, access blocked by car parking space (Complins Close) and
hidden bins not a problem (Complins Close). It had now also become clear that there
were quite a number of cases of bins stored in front gardens both hidden by hedge or
trellis and on open view.
It was agreed that the priority must be to deal with bins actually left out in full view.
FirstPort’s legal advice was that once letters had been sent and an administration charge
had been applied, the only next step was legal action. This would be impractical and
expensive. The Chair proposed that the only further action to be taken against all those
with bins at the front, hidden or on open view, should be to send a final letter asking for
compliance and then to draw a line under the matter. This was agreed unanimously.
To help residents with genuine difficulties, it was decided to investigate the problem
areas and try to improve access. These areas are – the fences leaning into the Frenchay
Road middle passage way (where FirstPort has already met one of the residents
concerned), together with its awkward gate and surface; 26 and 26a Stone Meadow;
and 12 Complins Close plus adjoining houses. FirstPort will draft letters in reply to these
residents. A review of these problem areas would be carried out before or at the next
Gardening Sub-Committee walkabout and the drawing up of separate lists of bins kept
hidden and on open view at the front will be considered.
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A director read out a statement on the subject which she had prepared for inclusion in
the AGM report, which included advising elderly or disabled residents that the Council
can supply lilac and blue plastic bags as an alternative to bins if they have problems
managing bins. FirstPort will draft a letter to the elderly resident who had written in to
advise of this possible course of action.
6.3.2 The graffiti by the lakeside had been cleaned, with mixed results. The wall under the
road is now clear, but the black paint on the high wall at the end had proved difficult to
remove. It was agreed to wait now until the newly planted creepers cover the area.
6.3.3 Evergreen’s replanting programme was well under way and looking good, especially in
the areas by the lakeside. Appreciation had been expressed by a resident in Complins
Close of the replanting there around the grass areas.
It was pointed out cut reeds need to be raked out of parts of the wildlife corridor.
6.3.4 Two Directors had held a very lively but productive meeting with residents of Frenchay
Road on 16 February in order to discuss the future of the alder trees there under WMC
management. Around 40 people had attended, including a councillor. Several people
supported the idea of replacing the alders with more appropriate trees but the majority
view was strongly that they should be retained and managed as at present (i.e. cut back
every few years), even though people were made aware that they might have to be
replaced eventually. It was pointed out by the councillor that an ‘avenue of trees’ had
been specified in the original planning permission.
It was agreed at the meeting that the one alder which had already been felled would be
replaced with another sort of tree. A list of possible replacement trees would be drawn
up and the residents would be asked to vote for one which would act as a trial for the
tree that might eventually replace all the alders at some future date.
6.3.5 FirstPort confirmed that the gardening maintenance contract had gone out to tender.
Three quotes were expected, from Evergreen, Gavin Jones, and Oxford Parks.
6.3.6 Progress on replacing the paving slabs was slow, with only one quote so far received
from five contractors approached. The first quote was very expensive and a second
quote was due in that week. Furthermore, continued roof work on apartment blocks
necessitated cherry pickers which always caused damage to paving slabs, so work on
replacing them could not start until the roof repairs were completed.
6.3.7 Nothing further had been heard from Berkeley Homes regarding the watercourse and
the design for new stone weirs, although it was reassuring that Stuart Divall had been in
contact with the City Council and had taken responsibility for the flood risk assessment
work that the city council demands. However, it will have to be WMC that submits the
application to the city council and eventually engages and pays for a suitable contractor
to do the work. As mentioned earlier in the minutes, this work goes in tandem with the
transfer of the estate freehold from Berkeley Homes to WMC.
A date for the next silt clearance would in theory depend on hearing from BH and Stuart
Divall and also on the state of the Thames Water inspection chamber on the canal
towpath (see 6.3.8 below). However if the process to install the stone weirs is
protracted then it might be better to engage Lanes to do the silt clearance now.
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FirstPort will contact Lanes to arrange.
6.3.8 The repair carried out by the Canal and River Trust (CRT) to the damaged siphon
inspection chamber on the towpath had leaked in recent heavy rain. The director
leading negotiations with TW had faced difficulty in contacting TW after the departure
of Denise Kinsella, as we now had no direct contact numbers. It appeared that TW had
not known of the repair carried out by the CRT. The Chair had emailed the CRT and had
supplied contact names to them.
6.3.9 A possible case of fly-tipping had been noticed at the northern western rear of Complins
Close. However, subsequent inquiry revealed that this material was awaiting a skip and
should be removed promptly.
6.3.10 A director commented on the quantity of plastic bags containing dog waste left in an
area near the nursery and on the path to Bainton Road. It is not possible from WMC to
install dog waste bins as they need specialist contractors to remove the waste, so it was
agreed that FirstPort would write to the City Council and ask if they could install one in
this area or elsewhere.
6.4 Scrutiny Sub-Committee
6.4.1 For practical reasons, the Scrutiny role in terms of the negotiations with Berkeley Homes
concerning the transfer of the freehold of the estate to WMC has been undertaken by
the group dealing with the resolution of the watercourse silt issues and the possible
installation of stone weirs in the balancing pond, as these two issues are interdependent and depend on parallel discussions with Berkeley Homes. See items 4 And
6.3.7.
7 Feedback
7.1 One complaint had been received, regarding the pruning of the evergreen hedges at the
back of Lark Hill. This had been answered by the Chair to the satisfaction of the resident.
8 WRACIC
8.1 A Director reported that an Easter egg hunt would take place on Easter Sunday.
There was no date for the next issue of Waterways World but one is to be issued soon.
9 Managing Agent
9.1 There was nothing to report regarding Section 20 consultations.
9.2 The lift repair in a Frenchay Road apartment block had been resolved.
9.3 FirstPort raised the possibility of employing an onsite caretaker/handyman to carry out
minor repairs in apartment blocks, bin stores and elsewhere. It was agreed that FirstPort
would investigate the feasibility of employing someone, for example for three hours,
five days a week, as opposed to hiring a contractor for every small job. Such a person
would be a FirstPort employee and some facilities might have to be found to
accommodate materials, equipment, rest room, etc.
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10 Preparations for the WMC AGM on Wednesday 8th May at 7.30pm in the Woodstock
Road Baptist Church
10.1 The Chair asked for Sub Committee reports for the AGM report by the end of March.
FirstPort agreed to supply a list of deadlines for reports, letters to be issued, Director
nomination forms, etc. The Chair has emailed all the Directors due for re-election asking
for their Willingness to Stand forms to be submitted.
11 Any other business
11.1 A director asked when carpark resurfacing would take place. It was pointed out that
due to the costs involved this would not be done until the work on the paving slabs
around apartment blocks, a Health and Safety priority, was complete.
12 Dates of next meetings
12.1 The following dates were agreed, all on Tuesdays at 7.30 pm in the Community Room:
2019: 21 May, 16 July, 24 September (plus Q&A session), 19 November; 2020: 14
January, 17 March. Please note in diaries.