Category: Site Wide Update

Channels CIC Meeting

Dear residents,

There is a meeting of the new Channels Community Stewardship CIC tomorrow (7th October) at 7pm via Zoom. The details that have been circulated by the CIC are as follows:

Meeting ID: 821 1722 1034
Passcode: 357095

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82117221034?pwd=c3Fxby9NSSs3VzN6cVE1dysvcGlkUT09&from=addon

Dial: +44 203 481 5240 The United Kingdom

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdvrg51VIi
Passcode: 357095 One tap mobile +442034815240,,82117221034#,,,,*357095#

Please note this is not a CRCG meeting but the first general meeting of the new CIC (formally Channels Management Company) which looks after all Channels-wide estate and issues.

AGENDA FOR THE MEETING

Welcome & Purpose of the Meeting – HK
CIC Explained – what is it and how will it function? – HK
Review applications for membership and confirm members HK
Review proposals for directors and appoint directors of the company HK
Update on Service Charges and accounts – HK
Review and if appropriate approve accounts for 2020/2021 HK
Open Space Delivery & Maintenance Update – OB/OS
Review the Budget for 2022 – HK

Proposed Maintenance Tasks
a. Western Mitigation Area – Lake Sight Lines – OS
b. Replacing Dead Trees – OS
c. Miscellaneous for discussion – OS

Proposed Community Projects Fund – HK/OB
a. Growing points
b. Community garden at Condor Gate (budget £5,000)

Approve the Budget (revised as appropriate) for 2021/2022 – HK
Website – HK
Chelmsford Garden Community Update – OB
Date & Time of Next Meeting – HK/OB
AOB

Site Wide Updates

Please see correspondence from the Side Wide Management Company about the change to a Community Interest Company and the budget for 2021/22. Only those that attended the residents meeting back in January and who expressed an interest in being members will have been contacted so it is being posted here so that everyone, including those that have moved here recently, has a chance to become involved.

The correspondence consists of an e-mail (below) and a newsletter containing more information and details (in pdf format), which can be viewed and/or downloaded here.

Dear Channels Resident

Please find attached a newsletter containing details of the Site Wide Service Charge Accounts and the conversion of the company into a Community Interest Company. Some of you will have already had this by post and/or from your residents Management Company.

You are receiving this email because we have heard from you on a Channels matter, or you have specially asked to be included, but please do tell us immediately if you would prefer not to hear from us. Equally, please tell / share this with your fellow residents and encourage them to contact us if they would like to be added. See also our Email pledge below.

At the same time if I can answer a couple of questions I have already had from some residents:

Community Interest Company (“CIC”)

Please let us know if you would like to become a member of the CIC, by email is fine – please include your address ALSO let us know if you would like to be a representative director, or nominate someone else to be (It is intended to have one representative director for each developer parcel).

Site Wide Service Charge

As explained in the previous newsletters and in the attached document, there are TWO service charges:

1: Site Wide Open Space Service Charge

2: Local Open Space Service Charge

We are only responsible for the Site Wide aspects. Each Local Area is managed separately (see also below).

Please note that the fact that you have paid your Local Area service charge does not mean that you have paid your Site Wide service charge

Who Owes What?

This varies depending upon which area you are in, as follows:

Bellway Area
This is managed by your own residents management company = Channels Chelmsford Management Company Ltd. They are responsible for collecting the Site Wide charges from you and paying us. They are aware of the charges and will advise you of what is owed and when.

Croudace Area
This is managed by your own residents management company = The Lanes (Channels Chelmsford) Management Company Ltd. They are aware of the site wide service charges that are owing in respect of your properties BUT have not asked you to pay this, they have asked us to collect the Site Wide Charge from you directly. You will all have received a statement showing what is owed.

Home Group Area
This is managed by Home Group directly. They have asked us to charge the residents directly from the time that you have bought your property.
They have paid all the site wide service charge up until the date that you purchased your property. In some cases that leaves a small amount owing by you and we will send those of you where that applies a statement showing how much you owe.

Marden Areas
They are responsible for the Site Wide service charge for their areas

As stated above there are some Site Wide accounts unpaid. We are NOT asking anyone to make up for the unpaid amounts – that would be very unfair to those people who have paid. Please rest assured that everyone who owes their Site Wide charge will be required to pay it.

Please therefore pay the amount shown on your statement.

If you have any questions please do email residents@channelscic.co.uk with any queries. Given the number of residents and to try and keep costs down we prefer to deal with queries by email if possible but I will of course call you if that is required.

All the best and we hope you are enjoying Channels as the weather improves

Hugo

PG Property Management Ltd

For the Channels Management Company Ltd

Managing the Channels Estate

If you have any questions about the content, please direct them to Channels Management Company Ltd at: residents@channelscic.co.uk

Channels Management Company: Residents News April 2021

Channels Residents Meeting (Update)

Please note this notice is on behalf of Channels Management Company Ltd, the organisation that looks after communal open spaces across the wider development and will therefore be of interest to all residents.

A Channels-wide residents meeting will take place on Thursday 28th January at 6.00pm and due to the current lockdown will be hosted online via Zoom. Residents are asked to submit questions in advance via e-mail no later than 10am on Monday 25th January 2021 to:

Residents@channelscic.co.uk

To join the meeting residents can click here or join on Zoom directly and input the meeting ID of 829 0881 8921 and passcode of 378799.

Full details of the agenda and further joining instructions can be found here.

Channels Residents Meeting

Please see correspondence from Channels Management Company CIC (the organisation that looks after all of the site-wide communal land) that is important for all Channels residents:

Dear Residents

As you will be aware from the residents letter circulated in November 2020, Ptarmigan Land has assumed responsibility for management of the site wide areas of the Channels Development on behalf of the landowners.

We understand that many residents need to understand more about the history and background of the Channels Development and how the Site Wide management is to be dealt with in the future both in terms of the day to day up keep as well as how it is paid for.

In order to explain all of this and invite feedback we are proposing to host a live Zoom Webinar on Thursday 28th January at 16:00pm. The webinar will be hosted by Ptarmigan Land who will set out a brief presentation before conducting a Questions and Answers session to respond to any queries residents have.

In the early days of next week we will be in contact again with more detail on the format and content of the event to help inform the questions that residents may wish to raise. If anyone would like to send any questions prior to issue of the more detailed agenda please do so at residents@channelscic.co.uk before 10am on Monday 25th January 2021.

We look forward to meeting you all soon.

Best regards
_______________________________________
Olly Buck Dip.TP MRTPI
Director

Closure of Skate Park

The City Council have reluctantly decided to shut their own skate parks and given the number of users at the Channels Skate Park which has led to a lack of COVID safe behaviour, the site-wide management company feel that they have no option but to do the same.

The Skate Park will therefore be fenced off imminently with signs erected explaining the situation. For the moment the play area will remain open and the site-wide management company will review the position regularly depending on how it is being used.

Community Benches (Site Wide Land)


If you walk around the “Western Mitigation Area” at the western end of the Bellway Eagle Rise phase, you will now find 4 benches installed around the lake. We have been pushing for these to be installed by the landowners for the last year and whilst it has taken longer than we would have liked, the benches are now in place for everyone to enjoy. The location of the Western Mitigation Area and the benches are shown below:

The “Western Mitigation Area” is part of development-wide communal land and as such it not owned by any of the phase specific Residents Management Companies. Whilst planning conditions dictated that the land had to be kept for use of residents it is still private land and if it is mistreated (for example leaving dog waste and/or litter), the land owners could potentially restrict our access to it.

So, have a wander down to the Western Mitigation Area (part of which is a wildlife conversation area) and enjoy the new benches!

🙂

Site Wide & Highways Updates

Site-Wide Management
It was previously reported that DJC Property Management were given notice by the site-wide management company and as such there has been no formal site-wide management taking place since August 2019. POD Management has been appointed as managing agent for site-wide matters and this should facilitate more efficient management across the development generally on the basis POD also provide services to Bellway residents.

This also means that the ongoing investigation into site-wide costs will be easier to progress as POD now have formal authority to undertake a forensic analysis of the records previously kept by DJC.

Channels Signage
Residents will no doubt have noticed the broken signage at the entrance to the Channels Development. The large sign as you drive in from the first roundabout on Essex Regiment Way has a number of letters missing and does not give a good impression.

This was previously the responsibility of Bellway however as they have now left the site, the landowner agent (Ptarmigan Land) will work with POD to confirm whether the signage is to be removed or whether it will be repaired and maintained appropriately.

Speed Limit Signs (Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde)
The specification for the missing 20mph speed limit signs has been agreed with the Council, all signs are on order and Bellway are awaiting delivery. The intention was to have the signs installed prior to the end of December however it is likely this will now roll over into the new year.

Highways Adoption (Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde)
The contractor has the details of what Essex Highways require before roads can be signed off for adoption and Bellway believe that the majority of those works have now been completed. Any outstanding remedial work will be completed early in the new year and there are also ongoing discussions about implementation of traffic calming measures.

However given the number of issues that still appear to be present, the Estates & Amenities Sub Committee may need to review the position and with the assistance of POD & the RMC, further challenge Bellway. Unfortunately if Essex Highways sign off the roads as suitable for adoption, it will be very hard to get Bellway back to change anything.

2019/20 Service Charges

Unfortunately there will be a further delay in distributing 2019/20 Service Charge estimates. RMC Directors, in conjunction with the CRCG Committee, have raised a number of questions in relation to the site-wide contributions that we make and as yet satisfactory answers have not been received.

I have outlined the current position in an open letter to all residents which can be viewed and/or downloaded here.

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

Community News

Parish Council Update
There is some more good news in that a further two residents, Chloe Tron & Michael Eve, have been co-opted onto Little Waltham Parish Council (following a formal application process). Together with Melanie Williamson, we now have three residents involved which will help give us a voice in what happens locally in what is a rapidly growing Parish.

We are still waiting for the outcome of our petition to amend parish boundaries so that the Bellway estate forms part of the Little Waltham Parish along with the rest of the wider Channels development. The City Council has been busy over the last couple of months preparing for both the City Council elections and the European Elections however we are due to receive an update imminently.

Site Wide Update
The village green area adjacent to the Channels complex will soon be ready for use by residents and as soon as confirmation is received, a notice will be posted on the website.

The landowner, land agent, developer and design company also met at the end of last week to discuss the construction plans for the public open spaces and information is awaited as to which areas will be made available for residents to access over the next few months. Again as soon as confirmation is received, the areas that can be used will be posted on the website.

Phase 1/2 Update
Bellway have advised that they will be leaving the site within the next month, although it may not be until the end of June. The central green open space between Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde will be landscaped and the nursery site will be prepared although as yet it is not clear how this will be left. There are still multiple highway snagging issues which need to be addressed and which are a cause for concern. These issues have been raised with both Bellway and local councillors.

Summer Community Event!
Following the success of the Christmas event (if a little damp), it has been suggested that residents get together and organise a summer event including a fete and if possible an open air cinema. The owners of the Channels complex are very keen to work with the community on this project and the new village green area will be an ideal location.

If you want to get involved in planning and running the event, click here!

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