22nd Jan 2014

Minutes of a meeting of The Garrison Residents’ Association Committee held at

Hinguar School on Wednesday 22nd January 2014

Present

John Dowell (Chairman) Chris Coomber (Hon Treasurer) Adrian Walker Hon

Secretary) Ian Dally Matthew Brittain Jonathan Hunnable Barry Spinks Vivien

Byczynski Scott James Cliff Marshall Vivian Jones

Apologies

Jamie Robinson Michael Kennedy Daniel Puddick

John Dowell welcomed four new members to the committee: Vivien Byczynski and Cliff Marshall, from Mess Road, Vivian Jones from Outlook apartments and

Scott James from Gunners’ Rise. He also thanked Mrs. Viv Stevens, Head Teacher, for the use of her school as a permanent venue for GRA meetings.

JD then went on to report that day’s meeting with Mr. George Cronin, Managing Director of Shoebury Garrison Management Company Ltd. (SGMCL). He said we

were steadily shortening the list of problems to be resolved; the previous MD had been out of his depth in this kind of environment, but that had changed with the

appointment of George Cronin, whose willingness to co-operate with the GRA had allowed progress on a wide range of outstanding issues. GC had confirmed he

expected completion of construction work in Commandant’s Park, on the sea defences and on the remaining dwellings on Gunners’Rise - all of which were sold - by June 2014. However, due to delays on the Heritage Centre planning agreements, C&M now expected to stay on site until at least July 2014.

Tennis Courts and multi-use play area (mupa)

GC said in spite of a hold-up, following a complaint over the 106 agreements, the tennis courts and mupa facility are confirmed. Cliff Marshall understood the

complaint concerned the location of the tennis courts and access to them via Mess Road. The same complainant had suggested the Heritage Centre be re-located to

another site in order to cut down on the volume of work being carried out there. Matthew Brittain said he thought the tennis courts were for the exclusive use of

residents, but JD said this had never been the case. Scott James raised the question of potential nuisance to Gunners’ Rise residents from the mupa site nearby, but JD suggested the GRA should wait till all these questions had been clarified before making its considered views known.

Sea wall

JD said the recent bad weather had caused all kinds of problems, which were continuing to affect works on the sea defences. SBC has announced it will not take

over responsibility of the foreshore until it is satisfied all restitution works have been carried out properly; they are introducing new conditions to ensure this happens. JH produced photographs, provided by GC, showing damaged and repaired sections of the sea wall. Cliff Marshall claimed the wrong materials were being used for this work, but Chris Coomber and Jonathan Hunnable said all materials had been approved by SBC. CM then said in his opinion erosion had been made worse by the

removal of some groynes. JD advised these were matters for resolution between C&M and SBC.

Fitness Centre

The site has been sold to B2C, which already owns and operates the wet suit outlet in Chapel Road, and they intend to operate it as a gym. It had been on the market for a considerable time due to the onerous restrictions as to its use and to the lack of parking facilities and had been sold for a sum below the original valuation, as had other non-residential properties on The Garrison. The site is restricted to use as a gym and for Garrison residents only. The GRA is concerned about parking – it has three spaces allocated at the rear. Complaints have been received concerning noise from the air conditioning units on site, but the owner advises they are using only the equipment already in situ when they took over and it is necessary for efficient operation of the facility. The planning restrictions will run for five years, after which time the owners may apply for a change of use. Estate charges for the site have been assessed at twice those of a residential dwelling.

GRA site management proposals for Shoebury Garrison Management Company Ltd. (SGMCL) post C&M Homes

JD confirmed the GRA had been asked to contribute to the debate over the appointment of a new managing agent to be appointed this year and a draft document to form the basis of a contract with the tendering companies had been prepared. JH explained this is a bespoke document tailored to the needs of Garrison residents and much tighter than previous documents. All tendering agents will need to be Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) regulated. GC wants to go to tender by the end of April 2014, after JH has had a final review of the draft. JH added that we would be able to amend the document as required while the new agent was in situ.

Gunnery Drill Shed estate charges

The GRA insisted C&M take professional advice on the calculation of charges, after Nationspaces’ admission they weren’t qualified to do so. Following a Traffic Survey we do now have a formula which the GRA considers to be flawed and the suggested charges inadequate. CC pointed out there was already significant damage to the traffic table adjacent to the Drill Shed caused by HGVs. JH said we had to resolve this issue before C&M leaves the site, but explained there were two elements to deal with: the first being the failure to recover overdue estate charges and the second: the failure to abide by the restrictions imposed when allowing the planning appeal where we have to consult both SBC and English Heritage. However, he stressed we needed to resolve the charges issue first. Viv Jones asked why the RICS formula had not been used for calculating the charges and JH explained the formula used was not suitable for a mixed-use site such as The Garrison.

Financial statements and historic inaccuracy of SGMCL financial statements

JD confirmed the overdue 2012 service charge accounts had been signed off by GC. These accounts had been incorrect since 2008, but the missing documents, which allegedly formed the basis of errors, had now been recovered. No bad debts had ever been recorded in the accounts and GC had acknowledged there had been a generic inaccuracy in most, if not all, past SGMCL financial statements. JD said the GRA was seeking substantial funding be deposited with the new SGMCL, for use post C&M. GC has agreed to write a letter of comfort to the GRA detailing the amounts agreed to date.

‘Narrow’ estate charge payments

JD explained the problem of ‘narrow’ estate charges. These referred to 25 dwellings having been excused service charges, due to the lack of facilities during the early part of the site’s development. Not all the 25 were excused under the same conditions, but

most were told no charges would be made while developers were still on site. C&M had paid charges for 2008-2012 and had agreed to pay charges for 2001-2007. However, for some of the properties there appears no compulsion to pay and GC was looking to resolve this anomaly.

Service/estate charge arrears

In 2012 the GRA finally persuaded C&M to instruct Nationspaces to disclose details of outstanding payments and in November 2012 these were reported to be around £65,000. Nationspaces was instructed to recover the payments and by January 2013, the sum had been reduced to around £20,000. JD recently asked Nationspaces to provide details of arrears from Jan-June 2013 and July-Dec 2013, but was advised their accounting system was unable to supply such detail. GC agreed this is unacceptable and has instructed Nationspaces to provide the requested information for the next meeting with GRA officers.

Section 20 leasehold property repairs.

Forty plus leasehold properties, mainly around the Horseshoe and in Chapel Road, were due for refurbishment in 2006/7 and 2011/12. In May 2013 Nationspaces commenced delayed Section 20 notices to these properties, culminating with invoices for amounts upwards of £3,500. Subsequently, Nationspaces discovered some calculations were omitted and a further invoice was sent to a number of the properties. Following approaches from a number of residents, the GRA took up the matter with C&M and in December 2013 a meeting was held between certain of the residents, and George Cronin and Ralph Syme of Nationspaces. C&M are now considering how best to complete the long overdue work by Spring 2014.

Small-arms building in Parade Walk

This property was sold at auction in November for £77,000. It is for residential use only and cannot be extended beyond its current footprint,

Heritage Centre parking and access proposals

The GRA had previously asked for the proposed traffic plan for the site but has been told the matter is now on hold, pending ongoing talks between SBC and C&M.

West Gate management

This area between the metal seats and the west gate adjacent to the commercial buildings at the junction of Chapel Road and New Garrison Road had been discussed with GC that morning; this followed complaints from residents concerning its poor condition. JD had told GC that Gladedale had confirmed in writing some years ago the area was owned by them and they had requested the managing agents include it as part of their maintenance remit. GC said he would consult their lawyers for advice on future management..

Suggested mailings

The GRA agreed with GC Nationspaces will include, with the next set of residents’ invoices, a communication to include the following: a reminder to all residents to drive with care at a speed consistent with the imperfect Garrison roads and with consideration for the numerous cyclists, walkers, children, dog walkers and other residents and visitors; a request to residents to make proper use of allocated parking spaces; a reminder to drivers of commercial vehicles that they are not permitted to park their vehicles on The Garrison overnight.

The GRA asked George Cronin personally to send a letter from C&M to all residents explaining their intentions for 2014, advising them of what needs to be done and asking for their co-operation towards achieving a smooth and successful handover of The Garrison site. GC agreed.

Treasurer’s report/membership/neighbourhood policing

Chris Coomber gave the account balances as of 3/1/14:

Current account: £38.44

Deposit account: £411.39

Current financial year spend

Web hosting; £38.40

AGM printing costs £111.35

Treasurer print cartridge £20.99

Total £170.44

CC said there was another policing re-organisation imminent which would have further impact on budgets.

Website

Ian Dally said we needed to renew the website registration and asked for more news to enter on the site.

Any other business

Chris Marshall said there were issues with youths at the back of the Officers’ Mess properties and some of the satellite dishes there had been damaged.

Next meeting

John Dowell said he would shortly inform members of the date of the next committee meeting.

There being no further business, the meeting ended at 9.25pm