Minutes of the ninth Ordinary General Meeting of Plotholders held on 24 October 2007 at The Forum, Forestdale, Croydon

Present
P Cohen Director
J Nightingale Director
C Onslow Director
D Reed Director
M Thomas Director
P H Denton Company Secretary
D Lee Managing agent

34 residents whose details are retained on file

It was resolved that Mr Denton would take the chair

1 .Introductions The chairman introduced the directors and confirmed that the meeting was quorate. It was resolved that the notice convening the meeting be taken as read.

2. Apologies for absence etc. Proxies in favour of the chairman were received from owners of numbers 2,7,8,14 Brookscroft. Proxies in favour of Mr Reed were received from number 80 and in favour of Mrs Thomas from number 16. In addition, apologies for absence were received from numbers 69, 74 & 93 Brookscroft.

3. Minutes of the previous meeting The minutes of the eighth general meeting held on 21 April 2004 were noted.

4. Report of the Trustees This was presented by Mr Cohen on behalf of the Trustees. The report itself had been circulated to all owners along with the notice and agenda for the meeting. He highlighted several key features including new signage, the current programme of replacing and, where necessary improving on, the pathway lighting and to the various opinion polls conducted by the directors. These had been held in order to gauge reaction to such initiatives as parking restrictions and a closer observance and monitoring of the covenants, which was also addressed elsewhere in the meeting.

He reported that according to the figures supplied by the clamping company, 25 vehicles have been clamped and whilst the initial campaign had been completed, and with it a slight reduction in the frequency of visits by the contractors, the fact remained that the parking regime had been generally accepted by owners as being beneficial to the estate. There were, inevitably, certain owners who felt aggrieved by the scheme and he assured the meeting that the directors would continue to monitor the scheme and, when they felt justified, make amendments to it. He confirmed that the contractor received an annual retainer but derived most of his income from release fees. In response to a request from an absent owner but notified to the secretary prior to the meeting, it was agreed that as part of their monitoring of the scheme, the directors would consider a permit system, though even these schemes had their weaknesses as advised by Mr Lee. The problem was then mentioned of a few owners who, despite having a garage and off-road standing, persistently parked their vehicles in allocated road spaces. He said that under the present rules they were entitled to do this but it did affect the number of spaces for those persons with a genuine need. He assured the meeting that every effort would be made to persuade owners to use their garages as intended (to park their vehicles) and not as an opportunity to store items away from the house.

Tree management was then discussed with assurances given that the directors and agents only act after receiving advice from professional arboriculturalists.

In closing, Mr Cohen reiterated that the directors could only be effective if they had the support and co-operation of owners and he was sure that the current policies met with overwhelming approval. The report was adopted.

5 .Finance Copies of the budget for the financial year to 31 October 2008 were tabled. In addition, a projection of expenditure for the years to 2010 was also tabled in order to indicate likely demands on the Brookscroft finances. Mr Reed reminded the meeting that as the estate was getting older, the directors felt obliged to make provision for substantial repairs to, for example, the roadways and he also referred to the exercise of replacing the bollard lights. Mr Lee confirmed that the older parts of Forestdale were already having to meet large infrastructure bills and it would be prudent to make provision as part of the Brookscroft financial planning. The directors had, consequently decided to issue the three year projection which showed inevitable increases in expenditure and consequently the service charge if the estate was to retain and in certain cases enhance its current ambience.

In response to a question from the floor, Mr Lee confirmed that the agent's charges were based on a formula recommended by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in as much as their fees were set at £40.00 per property and not as a percentage of expenditure.

The budget and three year projection were commended to the meeting and approved.

6. Re-appointment of trustees The chairman said that he was pleased to report that all the trustee directors had indicated their willingness to continue in office. As the maximum number of trustees was now in place (five) there were no vacancies although residents prepared to give of their time in furthering the aims of the company would always be welcome. The Trustees appointed since the last meeting (Mrs Thomas, Mr Reed & Mr Onslow) were consequently re-appointed with Mrs Lone's appointment also confirmed even though she had subsequently resigned on leaving the area.

7. Applying the covenants Mr Reed said that the directors had decided to address the issue of covenant adherence in order to ensure Brookscroft retained its "green and pleasant land" image, realising that in many cases owners had not perhaps been informed of the existence or relevance of covenants by their solicitor when purchasing their property. He went on to stress the importance of the covenants and the benefits to all residents if they are fairly enforced. Unfortunately, over recent years there had for a variety of reasons been a less than active participation by the directors and agents in monitoring the covenants and the directors had felt that the time had come to redress this. Consequently, the recent Newsletter/questionnaire had both explained what the covenants were, why they are important, what owners should do if alterations have been made without approval and how the directors intend fulfilling their approval role in the future. The response had been very encouraging with well over 50% being completed so far. Those that remained outstanding would be receiving reminders. Of those received to date, 175 changes had been notified of which only 30 had previously been given consent. The vast majority of the remainder were acceptable and would be given retrospective consent. In the small number of cases where there was an issue, the directors would contact the appropriate owners. They were confident that understandings could be reached which would be fair both to the owners concerned and to the other plot owners and residents of the estate. The meeting endorsed the policies being adopted by the directors regarding the covenants.

The current policy of allowing non-intrusive satellite dishes but not conventional aerials, was re-approved after the meeting had heard that in fact the policy had been adopted following a vote at the previous triennial meeting.

There being no further business, the chairman closed the meeting at 20.50 after he had, on behalf of the owners, thanked the directors and managing agent for their work
over the last three years.

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