WATERWAYS MANAGEMENT COMPANY
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING NO 83
7.30 pm, Tuesday 19 November 2019
Present: Adrian Olsen (Chair), Ann Hall, Nicholas Orme, Raquel Stremme, Mary Tovey, Liz Wheater
In attendance: Natalie Griffiths, FirstPort Property Services
Minute taker: Imogen Olsen
1 Apologies for absence
1.1 Tao Tao Chou, Adrian Mourby, Paula Reynolds, Louise Robertson, Brian Shine, Hilary
Sorensen
2 Minutes of meeting 82 held on 17 September 2019
2.1 The minutes of meeting 82 held on 17 September 2019 were approved.
3 Matters arising from the minutes
3.1 (4.2) The passage way between the Frenchay Road terraced houses has been cleared of
moss, etc. and Evergreen are looking for a suitable lock for the gates at either end.
3.2 (4.3) The poster to deter dog mess on the canal towpath would now be organised for
the spring of 2020.
3.3 (4.4) The lights on the Complins Close bin store had been repaired and were now
working well.
3.4 (8.2.2) The damp problem in a flat in Complins Close had been caused by condensation
and had now been rectified.
3.5 (8.2.2) FirstPort were still investigating the origins of the key-storage box affixed to the
outside of 115-141 Frenchay Road. If the owner cannot be identified a warning notice
would be attached to the box and it would then be removed after a suitable period.
3.6 (8.2.2) The letter about clothes/carpet moths had been sent to affected residents by
FirstPort.
3.7 (8.3.6) The CCTV cameras and notices had now been installed at the rear of Clearwater
Place.
4 Matters arising from Q&A session
4.1 These had all been dealt with during the last GSC walkabout.
The next bike cull is currently being arranged.
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5 Railway line developments
5.1 There was nothing to report. It was agreed to remove this item from the agenda for the
time being until there is further news.
6 Negotiations with Berkeley Homes concerning transfer of estate freehold to WMC
6.1 Berkeley Homes had still not responded regarding the requested draft legal agreement,
despite chasing. There was no point in pressing them as the initiative had come from BH
in the first place and it would make no difference to WMC if the transfer was delayed.
6.2 It was agreed to press on with engaging a surveyor in order to establish boundaries with
Network Rail behind Stone Meadow and with St Edward’s School to the north of Cox’s
Ground. FirstPort agreed to ask their surveyor to assist in this in due course.
7 Electric vehicle charging points
7.1 Two directors [the Chair and AH] had attended a meeting that morning organised by
Oxford City Council, and they reported back to the committee. The first priority was to
sort out the legal issues: how far can WMC be involved in this in terms of spending
service charge money or facilitating any initiatives, or would any installation charges be
the sole responsibility of individuals or groups of residents? There are many companies
now who specialise in the field. Who pays for the installation of infrastructure? How
would the electricity costs be allocated? Would the charging points go into visitors’
parking spaces and are they in suitable places? How would the electricity be supplied?
For terraced houses there would be the question of cables to parked cars crossing WMC
land from charging points affixed to houses.
A director [LW] urged some caution before commitment given the possibility of new
inventions such as hydrogen cars. Another director [AH] pointed out that costs were
likely to decrease over time as charging points became more popular.
A director [LR] had already suggested forming a working party and it was agreed that
this was the best way forward. Meanwhile FirstPort agreed to investigate WMC’s legal
position in relation to clauses 3 and 4 of the company’s Memorandum of Association.
The working group should look into what interest there might be across the estate but
beforehand it would need to gather some information for residents concerning options,
potential costs, charging mechanisms, etc.
7.2 A short stretch of ducting for potential charging points had been installed from the
electricity sub-station under the new paving outside 115-141 Frenchay Road. The cost
would be allocated to that block.
8 Sub-Committee news round-up
8.1 Finance
8.1.1 FirstPort explained that the accounts had been slightly delayed this year as the auditors
had requested further information. However, they had been signed off on 18
November. Although the accounts were normally circulated to members at the end of
October, this delay although regrettable would probably not be a significant issue.
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8.1.2 The actual versus budget report had last been produced on 10 October and there
seemed to be no significant issues.
8.1.3 FirstPort agreed to look at the estates budget and confirm how much was left so that
future re-paving works could be planned.
8.2 Apartment Blocks Sub-Committee
8.2.1 The re-paving around 115-141 Frenchay Road had been completed and was judged a
great success. The contractors had been excellent and much cheaper than the original
quotes. It was agreed that the next ABSC meeting would discuss a priority list for future
paving works, using the same contractors.
8.2.2 There were no current plans for the further steam cleaning of exterior walls.
8.2.3 The survey of all lifts had been completed by FirstPort and the author would attend to
go through it at the next ABSC meeting in December.
8.2.4 There was some criticism of the procedure for the repair of broken lifts. This could be
very protracted because current legislation required a second quote for work over a
certain sum even when legally circumventing the section 20 requirements. Attempts to
bypass this requirement had failed. It was agreed to defer further discussion until the
next ABSC meeting in December.
8.2.5 All current redecoration works were in hand.
8.2.6 Evidence had been found for two Airbnb/short-term lets, but it was generally agreed
that neither of these was a WMC property. One seemed to be in a GreenSquare block
and the other in the nursery block.
8.3 Gardening Sub-Committee
8.3.1 After a long delay there had finally been a response from Stuart Divall regarding the
proposed construction of stone weirs in the balancing pond. In an email received shortly
before the meeting he had answered the queries raised with him and also offered his
services as project manager. The Chair would discuss this further with the other two
directors involved in the working group [LR and HS].
8.3.2 Items arising from the GSC walk-about on 10 October were discussed. Evergreen would
reduce the alders on Frenchay Road. The alder stump in Frenchay Road has been
removed and Evergreen will suggest some possible trees to replace it for the residents
to vote on. Himalayan Balsam was growing behind Cox’s Ground and a task force of
residents would be set up to tackle it in the spring.
8.3.3 A director [LW] had organised a working party to plant bulbs by the lakeside. Over 500
native English daffodils (Narcissus Pseudo Narcissus) and scilla sibericas have been
planted, mixed together informally.
8.3.4 The Big Rake in September had been a great success, with a larger turn-out of
volunteers than last year thanks to good advance publicity.
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8.3.5 Resurfacing of the canal towpath had now begun, from Aristotle Lane Bridge all the way
to Godstow Road in Wolvercote. The Council had offered to include resurfacing the path
from the south side of Frenchay Road down to the towpath but had requested a right of
way over it in order to justify spending public money on private land. The Chair had
expressed approval of this but the matter had to be referred to Berkeley Homes as the
freeholder of the land. Lawyers from Berkeley Homes and the Council were discussing
the implications and the Chair was not clear whether this would go ahead.
8.3.6 There were no further developments regarding the proposed Controlled Parking Zone.
9 Scrutiny Sub-Committee
9.1 The Chair would be sending out the usual monitoring forms in due course.
10 Feedback
10.1 Nothing had been received on the Feedback web page.
11 WRACIC
11.1 Lydia Ng at the City Council had been approached regarding the possible repositioning
of the community noticeboard from under the arch into Complins Close to the end of
the Frenchay Road bridge close to the litter bin. She had sent a positive reply and we
await further developments.
11.2 The annual summer barbecue on 21 September had been very successful, as had the
recent Litter Pick. The hog roast on 9th December was now being organised.
11.3 WRACIC had been discussing the possibility of acquiring a defibrillator for the estate.
11.4 A director [MT] told the committee about Daybreak, a local dementia charity, and was
given the name of a WRACIC member who would be able to help publicise it in the area.
12 Managing Agent
12.1 There was one Section 20 consultation in progress, regarding a leaking roof at 30-47
Cox’s Ground. The FirstPort surveyor had this in hand.
13 Any other business
13.1 Two directors [MT and PR] had cleaned the carpets in the communal areas of their block
of flats and were told how to request a refund for their expenditure on cleaning
products.
13.2 It was suggested that the directors meet in the new year for a social get-together. A
director (RS) will organise.
14 Dates of next meetings
14.1 Dates for future meetings, all on Tuesdays at 7.30 pm in the Community Room:
2020: 14 January, 17 March
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