Brockwood Residents Association

Committee Meeting Minutes

18 January 2001

Attendees: Tony Newton, Stephen Messenger, Sophia Sinnos, Jan Kaya, Heather Flaherty, Simon Beirne

Minutes of last meeting: Agreed

Actions from last meeting:

AP5	Tony and Stephen to write to MP, Fairclough, and local Councillors re play area.	Events have somewhat superceded this action, and a decision on whether to write to the Councillors will be made at the next meeting, following further feedback from Tandridge as to whether we are even going to be allowed to appeal.
AP4.1	Residents to advise Tony if e-mail and web is not acceptable for minute distribution	Discharged. Nobody objected.
AP4.2	Residents to contact their co-ordinator regarding Christmas event	Done. Event held in John and Alison's on December 18th.
Outstanding Mike May actions
1.	As built drainage plans	Mike has sent plans, but these are not the as built drawings. Steve advised we should pursue with NHBC. Simon actioned to write to NHBC regarding this (AP5.1) Status: Still in hand
2.	Manhole keys	As at the meeting these had still not been provided. (Subsequent to the meeting Tony has received one set of manhole keys, and holds these if anybody requires them) Status: Completed
3.	Drain cleaning	Still not done. Tony agreed to chase with Faircloughs.(AP5.2) Status: Tony spoke to Mike May and Steve Munnings about this in early February. Action still not complete.
4.	Pump warranties	Mike May has provided details of the pumping equipment, and a maintenance contract. He did not provide the warranties, and advised we would need to obtain from the installers. Tony agreed to action this, and contact the installers. (AP5.3) Status: Done. Tony called installers, PIMS Group, who have given assurances that the pump is of correct spec for the site spec provided by Fairclough. All regular maintenance visits have shown no problems, but there have been two call-outs for blockages caused my site mud. The value of the pumps is Ł600 plus VAT for each of two pumps. PIMS agreed to send details of the pump spec, and also arranged for us to be quoted for renewal of the contracts (which will save us money).
5.	Landscaping	Tony advised he had spoken at length to Mike May about the report from Partridge Associates, and been told that he would be appointing a contractor (not Waltons) to carry out the corrective work to the landscape planting, and also to replace the dead trees in residents' gardens. Status: As at 1 Feb. nothing further had happened. Tony will again chase Mike May.
6.	Tree planting	See above
7.	Standpipe	Mike May has refused to provide a standpipe for the communal grounds. Steve said this was in direct contradiction to his promise at the September 2000 meeting, and proposed that we simply arrange installation, and send the bill to Mike May, copied to Richard Prynn (MD of Fairclough UK) AP5.4 - Steve to arrange for installation of standpipe.

Management Company

As ever, time is slipping by, and still Fairclough have not completed all the actions We discussed this issue, and decided we needed to push Mike May for early completion of all agreed works, as delay is continuing to prevent us from taking over the Management Company. Jan agreed to write to Mike May to advise him we would take legal action to facilitate completion if he did not set a date and stick to it.

Action: AP5.5 Jan to write to Mike May.

CPM

It was pointed out that there have been problems with one of the light bulbs for some weeks (between 10 & 11)

It was also noted that several people are refusing to pay CPM fees for 2001.

AP5.6 Tony to complain to CPM about lighting problems.

Play Area

AP5.7 Tony to talk to Clifton Hill School about whether they would like the play equipment if it became available.

Situation still not resolved, and letters to and from Tandridge Council have now re-affirmed their belief that we are unlikely to overturn their previous decisoin to not allow us to even appeal the Section 106 agreement. It is becomming obvious (if it were not already so) that we may not be able to avoid having the play equipment installed, and in some respects this looks like being the only way we can get rid of Fairclough and CPM, thus being able to take over "ownership" of the development, and then take on the Council on our own, with no need to rely on Fairclough to fight the battle for us. Jan advised we really should take this up with the Conservative Councillor.

AP5.8 Jan to contact local Conservative Councillor, and try to arrange a meeting, perhaps with Richard Prynne from Fairclough.

Steve advised that he had been told we COULD try to get the Section 106 overturned, but should bypass Tandridge and go straight to the Secretary of State.
AP5.9 Steve to contact his planner consultant friend, Ray Welsh, to ask him to write us some advice on this.

Website and discussion forum

We discussed the use of the website, and it was agreed we would leave the site as it currently is, and not move to a chargeable site until the longer term benefits of having the site had been quantified.
Usage of the site has not been high (one member of the committee admitted to never having even looked at the site!), and usage of the discussion group almost non-existent. This is a shame as the site could be used for a variety of things to the benefit of the Close.

Tony pointed out that the link to the Amazon.co.uk web site could generate substantial commissions for the Close, but thus far not one single order had been placed by anyone on the site. Just clicking on the link on the front page of the site takes the user directly to Amazon, and any purchase made generates a commission of between 5% and 10% - which otherwise goes directly to Amazon.

Discussion group. Only 6 people on the Close have registered for this facility, which is very useful for security issues, as passwords are required. Tony offered that anybody wishing to use the facility - to swap horror stories about Faircloughs, discuss CPM or Council issues, or even to ask about something a fellow resident may be able to help with - but who are finding the log in process complicated should contact him (at no.6) and he will happily come to their house to set it up for them.

Address for Website: http://www.tony.newton.btinternet.co.uk/brockwood/

Email address: brockwoodresidents@btinternet.com

Please contact Tony with any suggestions.

Reminder of committee/household "ownership"

Name	Tony (6)	Stephen (5)	Sophia (11)	Simon (14)	Jan (19)	Heather (20)
Households	2,6,7,8	1,3,4,5	9,10,11	12,14,15,16	17,18,19	20,21,22,47,49

Other issues.

Concern was expressed over the persistent visitor parking on the road rather than in the visitor parking bays.

Speed limit - this was again raised as an issue, and Steve was asked what had happened to the signs. Steve replied that he felt they were a waste of time, as people will not take any notice. The committee agreed this was probably true, but that we should still put up the signs.
AP5.10 Steve to arrange for the speed limit signs to be erected.
AP5.11 Jan to write a "flier" to put through everybodys letterbox regarding the speed limits and the problems with on-road parking.

AP5.12 Heather to write or e-mail to all residents with the telephone and contact details of all other residents. This list will also be posted, and maintained, on the web site discussion forum page

Date of next meeting:

Wednesday 15 February 2001, 8.00pm 11 Foxon Close.

Tony Newton

Chairman, Brockwood Residents Association

1 February 2001

Disclaimer:
Committee efforts: It should be noted that these minutes reflect the best efforts and current opinions of the Committee. While they sometimes include statements of what we are trying to do on behalf of the Close, these statements must be taken in the context of being our best intent, and not a legally binding commitment to resolve any issues on residents' behalf. If you have a burning issue you feel needs to be resolved, the committee will seek to assist in any way we can, but residents must seek their own legal advice and opinion on any issue before conveying anything the committee has reported in these minutes to any third party.