| DIRECTORS
Paul
Cohen has resigned after serving as a director for many years, because he expects
shortly to be moving away from Brookscroft. Paul will be sorely missed, among
his many achievements being to persuade Thames Water to fit meters to our garage
area standpipes thereby saving substantially on water rates and helping to keep
down our maintenance fees. We wish Paul and his family all the best for the future.
Gordon Clark has kindly volunteered to become a director, and has taken Paul's
place. VIRGIN MEDIA CABLE
TELEVISION
Long-standing residents will know
that BML arranged for Telewest to install cable throughout Brookscroft many years
ago. Unfortunately the computer at Virgin Media, who took over Telewest, seems
not to have understood this and several residents have been told that they 'are
not in a cable area'. We have at last persuaded Virgin Media to correct their
central database, and any resident wanting to have digital cable TV in their homes
should now get a positive response from Virgin. High speed broadband and telephone
services are also available … and not a satellite dish involved. LIGHTING
(1)
We have at last been able to draw a final
line under the contract to replace our bollard and wall lighting. The contract
has taken far too long and caused us far too any problems, but we hope you think
the result is worth it. Our main worry now is vandalism of the new lights, which
adds significantly to our costs and so to your management fees. Any information
you are able to provide us which might help identify the vandals and bring them
to justice will be very welcome. LIGHTING (2)
We
have started contractual discussions on the refurbishment of our street lamps
which will help us decide what we can afford to do and when. We hope to have more
news soon. SUMMER
Now
that summer has arrived (we think), garage standpipes will be much used for washing
cars. Please remember that we only benefit from reduced water rates if the water
is not wasted - make sure you shut them off when you have finished and report
any faults promptly to PMMS. Also, it is good that children are able to enjoy
playing outside in the fine weather, but could parents please remember that the
amenity lands are there for all to enjoy, and not allow their children to shriek
excessively while playing, nor, for safety reasons, to play on the roads or in
the garage areas. Some children have also taken to writing on walls. It may seem
like a harmless prank to them, but it causes distress and upset to those who have
to clean it off their properties, so could parents please be sure to know what
their children are up to and stop them getting involved in this sort of behaviour
before it develops to something more serious. COMPLIANCE
WITH BROOKSCROFT COVENANTS
Another reminder that
you must obtain consent from the directors before altering the outside of your
property. This includes new boiler flues, so make sure your supplier understands
that there are restrictive covenants before you agree to an installation. The
directors are happy to advise on what is and is not acceptable, but are determined
to uphold the Covenants and will not give retrospective consent for a flue - or
other alteration - that does not meet our criteria. As a helpful reminder of the
rights and responsibilities given to you by the Covenants, we will circulate a
checklist for you to keep in the next few weeks. VANDALISM
TO BROOKSCROFT SIGNS
Most residents will have
noticed that some idiot with nothing better to do severely damaged several of
our signs by fire recently. We are in discussion with PMMS and our sign supplier
about replacements. At the time of writing, we are wondering whether it is necessary
to replace some of the signs, particularly those on the 'top' edge of the estate.
If we decide not to, and any residents or their visitors suffer inconvenience
as a result, please let us know. Most of the replacement cost will be paid by
insurance, but unfortunately there is a £100 excess which will have to be
found from maintenance fees. PARKING
(1)
While our clampers have been more active
recently, parking in the evenings and weekends is again becoming difficult. If
this continues, the directors will once more be forced to consider introducing
parking permits, which will have to be paid for. To help avoid this step being
necessary please make use of your garage (and private driveway if you have one). PARKING
(2)
Sadly, there has recently been an increase
in a particularly anti-social parking menace, in the form of drivers leaving their
vehicles overnight blocking private drives and garages. We cannot believe that
Brookscroft residents would themselves be so stupid and thoughtless, but could
you please make sure your visitors know that access may be needed at any time
of night. We know of one instance in which a blocked drive caused a real emergency.
This is unacceptable, and we are currently exploring the possibility of removing
such vehicles immediately and without warning. Drivers will have to pay a substantial
fee to recover their vehicles. EMERGENCY
TREE WORK
As mentioned in previous newsletters,
we have delayed some routine tree maintenance because of pressure on our budget.
However, we could not avoid emergency work to remove a dangerous tree near Yew
Tree Way, so the cost of that (£290) is yet another item to be paid for
by maintenance fees. BUDGET
CONSTRAINTS (1)
Still on the subject of trying
to keep costs down, we have also postponed the planting of laurel bushes around
some of the borders of the estate, designed to discourage vandalism and the irresponsible
minority of dog walkers who think it acceptable to let their animals foul our
land. On a brighter note though we are extremely grateful for a donation from
one generous resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, enabling us to plant bushes
along one further stretch. BUDGET CONSTRAINTS
(2)
The directors are also looking for innovative
ways to keep costs down or to find other sources of revenue. One idea which has
been successfully implemented over many years at Coulsdon Woods (a Wates estate
similar to ours) is to license land which has little or no amenity value to the
estate, to residents who can put it to better use. This is an important topic
and it will be the subject of a special newsletter soon, so that all residents
will have a chance to give their opinion. It is important to emphasise that the
directors are not considering the sale of land, and are determined to do all they
can to look after the main amenity land which adds so much to the attractiveness
of living here. SHRUBS AND
LIGHTING
Many residents will be aware that some
of our new lighting bollards are partly obscured by shrubs. Where the shrubs are
simply overgrown, we arrange with our gardening contractors to cut them back.
But there are other cases where the shrubs have been neatly trimmed, but where
they still reduce the effectiveness of the light by creating shadows. An example
is the bollard at the side of house no.21's back garden. The shrubs have been
trimmed in a neat curve, but to allow the bollard to light the long, straight
path effectively, the shrubs would have to be cut back severely and would not
look as good. In other words, there is a trade-off between the attractiveness
of our greenery and the effectiveness of our lights. There is a healthy debate
among directors as to which should have priority. Do you have views (not necessarily
about the example quoted here)? If so, please send them to Brookscroft@blueyonder.co.uk.
We will take account of any views sent to us when deciding how much trimming to
do.
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