ChannelsResidentsUK

POD Mobilisation Update

It has been 2 weeks since POD Management commenced services as the new Managing Agent. The majority of mobilisation tasks have been completed although there have been delays due to DJC Property Management not providing details of financial balances to be transferred, although this has now been completed.

Service Charge Budgets
The RMC & POD Management had planned to distribute new Service Charge Budgets & associated invoices by mid-August. Unfortunately due to the delay in POD Management receiving the necessary financial details and balances from DJC Property Management, there will be a further delay in getting the Service Charge information out to residents.

The new budgets will be distributed at the earliest opportunity but certainly no later than the end of August.

Estate Issues & Concerns
All issues that have been logged via the CRCG website are now live on the POD Management system. RMC directors have access to the system and can track progress to ensure that the issues are being dealt with. The key priority for POD has been to transfer the financial balances from DJC (which has proved to be a painful process) to enable Service Charge invoices to be sent out.

As such the majority of issues have not yet been dealt with however the position will be fully reviewed at a meeting due to take place on 22nd August. Please continue to log issues at:

https://channels.community/log-a-concern/

Landscaping Dilapidations
A meeting is to be held on 22nd August between POD, the RMC and Bellway to determine what is outstanding and how Bellway will address the areas still in need of being brought up to standard.

Bellway have asked that POD to give them a price for taking on the newly prepared areas to ensure they are in a suitable state for on-going maintenance at which point the areas will transfer to the RMC. This will also be discussed at the meeting on 22nd August. All existing dilapidation items have been added to POD systems for audit purposes.

Ongoing Mobilisation
POD have been asked to provide updates on a weekly basis until RMC Directors are satisfied that all core mobilisation tasks have been completed.

Andrew Wright, Interim Director
Channels (Chelmsford) Management Company Ltd

Community Grant Award

The CRCG is pleased to announce that the Bellway at Channels Development (Phases 1&2) has been awarded a Community Initiative Fund (CIF) Microgrant from the ‘Community Chest’.

The CIF was launched by Essex County Council (ECC) on 1st April 2019 and is administered by the Essex Association of Local Councils (EALC). The Grant has been awarded to enable the purchase of a marquee to support community events and activities into the future.

The CRCG, on behalf of the entire community, would like to show their appreciation for the generosity and give thanks to those involved in the awarding of the grant including the CIF Panel, Councillor David Finch (the leader of Essex County Council) and the EALC funding officer.

The CRCG have also been successful with a pre-application checklist submission for a Main Community Initiative Fund Grant. The full application is due on 18th August and the CRCG would be grateful for volunteers to assist in the completion of the bid.

If you are interested and are willing to assist with finalising the budget and application, please contact us via the form below:

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Information submitted via the above form will be held only for the purpose of ensuring residents can be contacted about the CIF Grant submission.

With thanks to Melanie Williamson & Carroll Crumpen who have worked over recent weeks to open a CRCG Bank Account (with Metro Bank) and to get the ball rolling in securing grant funding for our community.

POD Service Commencement

Dear Residents,

POD Management officially commenced their service today. All private residents should have already received a Welcome Letter and a unique reference to log contact details onto the POD system.

Housing Association tenants may not have received letters yet as currently all correspondence has to go via the Housing Associations. We will be looking to agree with the Housing Associations that POD can send correspondence in relation to estate management directly to properties in the future.

There is some new information on the website which explains the responsibilities of, and differences between, the Residents Management Company, the Managing Agent (POD) and the CRCG.

Don’t forget to log issues via the CRCG website for the time being as notified on 25th July however there is no need to log issues in relation to Highways as everything is already logged and being worked on with Bellway with a view to resolution by the end of August. The City Council is watching progress to ensure all planning requirements are adhered to.

I will be working closely with POD over the coming weeks to assist with the ongoing mobilisation and to ensure key issues identified are addressed. I am confident that a new era working in partnership with POD Management will be far more productive than that with the previous managing agent! 🙂

Andrew Wright, Interim Director
Channels (Chelmsford) Management Company Ltd

Highways Update

Residents will have noticed a lot of activity over the last week around the front of the development as large sections of footpaths have been replaced. The footpaths were not of an acceptable standard for Essex Highways due to an excessive number of joins, damage from vehicles and issues where there are connections to services.

To avoid further problems Bellway have elected to replace the entire length of the sections that have thus far been ‘patched up’. These works should be completed imminently.

Work is also due to start on the buff coloured tarmac path in Niblick Green that leads to the boundary with Beaulieu to repair some of the large cracks that have appeared. The paths throughout the central open space between Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde will also be surfaced at the same time. This work is due to start on Thursday 1st August however it is weather dependent.

There will be some disruption to the area and you may therefore need to use one of the other bridle path links to access the play park and path to Beaulieu whilst the work is being undertaken.

There are still also many areas across the development where general remedial work is required. A number of issues including uneven surfaces, gaps between block paving, areas where water is pooling and excessive weed growth are being addressed across the site. Bellway are now working to a final deadline of 31st August to have all works completed ready for sign off by Essex Highways.

I undertook a walk-around with a Bellway representative on Monday 29th July who was well aware of absolutely everything that requires attention. As such, and unless there is a significant new problem that is identified, on-going issues in relation to general highways snagging do not need to be logged via the CRCG website as the RMC, POD Management and Bellway are fully aware of them and the overall situation will be continue to be monitored closely.

Andrew Wright
Channels Residents Community Group

Estates: Log A Concern

Dear Residents,

As you will be aware, POD Management commence delivering their service for us on 1st August 2019. Over the coming weeks, POD will be implementing a live system whereby RMC Directors will be able to view and track progress of issues that have been raised. Residents will also ultimately have access to an overview of the status of issues to provide assurance that they are being managed appropriately in a timely fashion.

However for the next two months, whilst the handover of management takes place, estate related issues should be raised via the CRCG website ‘Log A Concern’ page.

This will ensure there is a robust audit trail and that during on-going mobilisation, RMC Directors can check that all issues raised are appropriately logged by POD on their system and are being dealt with accordingly. Once POD’s systems are fully up and running, issues will be logged directly with POD and as such there should be no need for doing so via the CRCG website.

POD Management may need to contact you in relation to a logged issue and you will note that the website form now asks for contact details to be submitted. Any personal information submitted will be held by POD Management only for the purpose of formally recording, dealing with and resolving estate management issues raised.

Please note that all issues relating to your property must be resolved through the normal channels (generally Bellway Customer Care) and any submissions of this nature will not be logged!

Broomfield Parish Council

Dear Residents,

As our part of the wider Channels development currently still sits within the Broomfield Parish (see information here which explains why), I recently met with officers from Broomfield Parish Council with a view to deriving some local benefit for the proportion of Council Tax that we pay each year.

I met with both the Chair and Parish Clerk and both were very open to consider how Parish funds could be used to enhance our community. Initial suggestions include a community notice board, benches for our green spaces and a defibrillator, all of which residents have suggested/requested at some time over the last year.

The Chair also noted that the Parish Council still has vacancies and that he would welcome engagement from Channels residents by either applying to be co-opted as Councillors or by involvement in one of the three key sub-committees (Village Amenities, Finance and Planning) for which members do not need to be Councillors.

If you are interested in getting involved with Broomfield Parish, either via becoming a Councillor or through working with one of the sub-committees, do get in touch with the Parish Clerk:

Michael Letch
01245 441660
clerk@broomfieldessex.co.uk

It would be great to have residents involved with both Broomfield and Little Waltham Parish Councils whilst we are still waiting for our final destination to be confirmed and at the end of the day, we are all neighbouring communities that can work together.

Andrew Wright
Channels Residents Community Group

Parish Boundary Petition

Dear Residents,

You will recall that a number of you signed a petition a few months ago to invoke a Community Governance Review with a view to requesting an amendment to existing Parish Boundaries. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the Bellway phases of Channels would form part of the Little Waltham Parish (along with the rest of the Channels development) rather than Broomfield which is where we currently sit.

Unfortunately we are still struggling to finalise a petition that meets the necessary conditions to invoke the review. An update can be found here which fully explains the history and the issues encountered. This is worth a read for both those new to the development and for those who have signed the petition and are wondering why the process is taking so long!

In short, we need a minimum of 14 additional signatures from residents that must be registered local electors. If you would like to sign the petition and have not yet done so, please complete the form below and someone will be round with a clipboard and a pen 🙂

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Information submitted via the above form will be held only for the purpose of knowing who to contact and when in relation to the Community Governance Review Petition.

Highways Update

As residents will be aware, our roads are not in a particularly good state and whilst many of the roads are only a few months old, they look more like they have been built for over 10 years. We have sunken drains, sunken paving, damaged and poorly laid paving, pooling of water, weed growth and general poor workmanship.

We have been pushing Bellway for months about this and despite being promised snagging action plans, we have only received the odd brief verbal update and no evidence of any tangible corrective action.

In early June we made available to both Bellway and our City Councillor (from a planning perspective), a large set of photo examples which were representative (although not exhaustive) of the issues we are facing. In our opinion the ‘finish’ of the roads is absolutely unacceptable and not to the required standard for a new development such as Channels.

Bellway no longer have anyone full time on site and we have serious concerns that we will end up in the middle of protracted arguments between them and Highways whilst our roads are left in a sorry state. We have asked our City Councillor to support in pushing Bellway to appropriately comply with planning requirements and to finish the development to an acceptable standard and the City Council are keeping a watching brief on how things are progressing.

You will have probably noticed that there are sporadic remedial highways works being undertaken across the development and we have been advised that Bellway are currently reviewing all remaining works with Barcon in advance of walking the site with the Essex Highways Clerk of Works. This is an important milestone as it will flag any further action required to meet Highways adoptable standards.

The intention from Bellway remains to obtain sign off from Essex Highways by the end of July/beginning of August however given the extent of the issues that we picked up versus the current rate of remedial works being undertaken, it is very unlikely this deadline will be met.

It is important to note that at present Bellway are wholly responsible for all highways including repairs, upkeep and general maintenance and we will continue to push them, with the support of the City Council, to ensure our roads are of the requisite standard and in line with planning requirements.

Andrew Wright
Channels Residents Community Group

Community News

Channels Summer Event
As you may recall, we have been working with Channels Estates to facilitate a joint summer event for residents. The recent ‘Summer Fest’ event that Channels ran was a great success however it did highlight some unforeseen issues, primarily that visitors (and playing children) were wandering around the wedding garden whilst wedding events were taking place.

As such whilst we will work with Channels on the coordination of events where possible over the coming year, it has been agreed that until further works are completed to formalise the boundaries between the Village Green and the Bar/Wedding areas, it would not be practical to host community events on the Village Green.

We are therefore looking to hold a late summer event, probably early September, on our own area of land (between Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde). Those residents that have offered help have been contacted to get the ball rolling again however if anyone else wants to get involved, simply fill in the form here and someone will be in touch!

Nursery Site Update
We have been advised that whilst contractual discussions are taking place with a company that wants to take on the Nursery site, there are a number of legal issues to be resolved and as such it is unlikely that any building work will commence for another 12 months. On this basis Bellway will prepare the area so that it is left as managed grassland with a ‘paddock’ fence around the perimeter to prevent access.

Community Micro Grant Funding
An application, led by Melanie Williamson, has been made for a community micro grant to support a programme of community activity throughout 2019/20. The grant on this occasion will assist in supporting the purchase of a marquee to support delivery of community hosted activities around the development. This will form part of a wider proposed project to enable Channels to evolve from merely a location with lots of new houses to an all-inclusive, vibrant community (keep an eye out for more news on this).

Neighbourhood Watch
Steve Leverett, Chelmsford Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator, attended the Little Waltham Parish Council Meeting on 4th July to raise awareness of the benefits from belonging to a local Neighbourhood Watch. Don’t forget that we have a local scheme running and you can find more about it and the benefits of getting involved here. For those that have not yet signed up, you can do so here. Our NHW Co-ordinator (John Buckberry) will bring you a window sticker and you will receive useful updates via e-mail.

Broomfield Parish Council Links
As you will be aware, the Bellway phases of Channels currently sit within the Broomfield Parish which receives a not insignificant sum of money each year from our Council Tax. The majority of the Bellway phase has been here for well over 2 years and yet we have seen no local benefit. We have made contact with Broomfield Parish Council to ask whether there is potentially any access to funding that we could use for our locality.

Examples could include the installation of benches placed at strategic locations around the development, perhaps some small items of public art (much like the little wood carvings across Beaulieu) and to assist in funding our summer event as part of the work to develop the local community.

Progress is slow however we will continue to pursue the possibilities that may be open to us with Broomfield Parish Council until such time that we finally become part of the Little Waltham Parish.

As always, sign up to follow the website and encourage all your neighbours to do the same and you will kept up to date with everything that is happening in and around your community 🙂

Andrew Wright
Channels Residents Community Group

Managing Agent Update

Further to the update posted on 12th June 2019, RMC Directors have now formally appointed POD Management to undertake day to day management, grounds maintenance and company secretarial services at Eagle Rise and Aqua Verde.

POD Management has a significant amount of mobilisation work to undertake over the course of the next month and require a formal point of liaison on a day to day basis. As such an interim RMC Director has been appointed, in line the company Articles of Association, to work with them and to instruct DJC where necessary to facilitate a smooth handover.

It is important to note that the interim director appointment is a temporary measure to ensure there is appropriate oversight in relation to mobilisation and handover. The appointee will automatically stand down when the formal process of wider director appointments takes place and the individual will need to put themselves forward in line with that process at the appropriate time.

Andrew Wright, who is a prominent member of the Channels Residents Community Group and who has worked closely with RMC Directors over the last year on both management of DJC and procurement of POD Management, has been duly appointed as an interim Director.

Residents will receive a letter from RMC Directors in due course formally confirming everything that has been posted via this website in relation to procurement of the new managing agent and residents will also start receiving correspondence from POD Management over the coming weeks as handover from DJC takes place.

Further information & updates will be posted via this website as mobilisation progresses so please do sign up to receive notification of updates and also encourage anyone that has not yet signed up to do so as we are aware that not everyone is a member, nor wants to be a member, of the Bellway at Channels Facebook Group.

Bellway at Channels is about to enter a new era! 🙂