Category: Estate Management

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!

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! 🙂

Landscaping Preparation

Please note that a large area of land (shown in the images below) is currently being prepared prior to handover to the RMC. We have pushed Bellway hard recently to ensure that the land is prepared to the requisite standard and this has led to the delivery and laying of new topsoil before seeding of the grass takes place. Frequent watering will be undertaken over the coming weeks to ensure the grass can become established.

The area needs to be free from any form of human traffic and as such residents (and anyone else) should refrain from walking or cycling over it at any time.

Bellway will be leaving the site imminently and once the land is deemed to have been prepared appropriately, it will be handed over to the RMC and new managing agent (once formally appointed).

It is important to note that from the point of handover to the RMC, any further remedial work required to ensure the land can be maintained in line with the agreed Grounds Maintenance Specification will be at the expense of residents via the annual service charge.

It is therefore in our interests to ensure that the area is left to become established so that it can be enjoyed by all in the future!

New Managing Agent

Please find some important information in relation to the procurement of a new managing agent to replace DJC.

Although all residents will receive this information formally from RMC Directors, as the partnership with DJC has just over one month left to run it was felt that residents should know the position at the earliest opportunity.

Parking Issues & Covenants

Dear Residents,

Further to the on-going debate about commercial vehicles, parking, restrictive covenants and the enforcement of them, it is important to note that the Community Group Committee has no power or mandate to make any decisions in this regard and it is our Resident Management Company Directors that would need to consider and determine what, if any, action should be taken.

The Community Group has however attempted to engage with the incumbent managing agent to assist in finding solutions to some of the parking concerns that have been raised by residents over recent months. This has largely been where cars and vans have been parked in locations that are unsafe or that potentially block access to emergency vehicles (which has happened on one occasion).

Unfortunately DJC were not prepared to assist given the emotions that often accompany parking concerns and as such the Community Group will look to work alongside the RMC with the new managing agent, once appointed, to consider ways of dealing with issues that cause concern for residents.

One of the proposed approaches is to hold regular ‘town hall’ style meetings which residents can attend and air views on key topics that affect the development so that we can collectively, as a community, determine the best way to deal with any problems that arise, parking or otherwise.

It is important to note that there are indeed a number of restrictive covenants that residents signed up to as part of their property purchase which are legally binding and which all residents are obligated to comply with. The new managing agent will also be asked to assist the RMC in determining the extent to which the covenants should be policed, including the need to provide more clarity in relation to the wording of them. For reference, the covenants can be found here.

Ultimately there is a need to ensure that the community as a whole is happy and the covenants need to work for us, not against us! 🙂

Estate Management Update

Most residents will be aware that the contract with DJC Property Management Ltd for management services at Channels (Aqua Verde and Eagle Rise) has been terminated and as such DJC will cease to provide any services on the development from the end of July. DJC provides managed services (landscape maintenance, communal cleaning etc.) for which residents pay an annual Service Charge fee. They also act as Company Secretary for the Channels (Chelmsford) Management Company (“CCMC”).

The decision to terminate the contract was taken by CCMC Directors in response to numerous concerns and complaints raised by residents over the last year. The Directors of both CCMC and DJC have worked hard to try to improve matters for many months but unfortunately were unable to reach agreement on what is an acceptable level of service and consequently have agreed to part company.

The Directors of CCMC have invited a shortlist of contractors to tender for the management, landscaping and company secretarial services and each will be asked to present their proposals on Friday 10th May. A detailed information pack and specification has been put together to ensure that all companies are bidding on the same basis.

The Channels Residents Community Group has been assisting CCMC Directors with the above process and has recommended that residents should be able to submit their ideas, thoughts and suggestions for consideration by CCMC Directors.

If you would like to submit suggestions, or any other feedback, please do so using the online form below, no later than close of play on Friday 3rd May. All responses will be collated, considered by CCMC Directors and used in preparation for when contractors present their proposals on 10th May.

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Your message has been sent

Please note that due to the tight time-frames that are being worked to, you will not receive a personalised response however all feedback will be collated, considered by CCMC Directors and used in preparation for when contractors present their proposals in May. Your details will not be kept for any other purpose.

Important: DJC Contract

Dear Residents,

Please note that a Contract Expiry Notice, dated 24th January 2019, has been served on the DJC Property Management Contract. This action is a result of close working between the Community Group and the current director of the Residents Management Company (Bellway).

Leaflets will be dropped to all residents in due course to ensure that everyone is aware of the position and further updates will posted regularly.

Please click here for further details about what this means for residents.

Salt Bins

As we move into a period of colder weather, Bellway will imminently be topping up salt in the two bins that are on the development, the locations of which are shown on the image below.

At present DJC do not provide regular gritting as part of their service offer however the salt is available for all residents to use as necessary and can be opened with a triangle (gas) key.

There will be no cost to residents for the salt provision.

Please do keep access to the bins clear!

Landscaping Update

As part of the ongoing landscaping remedial works, many of the small trees which form boundary hedgerows are being replaced. This is a significant undertaking with preparation and planting due to take place over the next couple of weeks.

The new hedgerow ‘whips’ are young trees of approximately 0.5-1.0 m in height and 2–3 years old that have been grown specifically for planting out. They will generally be supported by canes to ensure they remain in place and upright as they grow.


It is important that the newly planted areas are not interfered with as the tree ‘whips’ need to become properly established over the coming months and as such it is asked that children are advised not to play in these areas and especially not to remove the supporting canes.

The remedial works are being undertaken at no cost to residents. However the gardeners will be providing photographic evidence once the planting has been completed and the cost of repairing any damage to these areas subsequent to the work being signed off will fall to residents via the service charge we all pay.

Residents Update

Estate Management: Remedial Works
Members of the Community Group Committee met with Bellway, DJC and a Channels Estate representative on 22nd November to undertake an inspection of the on-going remedial works, specifically in relation to soft landscaping.

Due to over-running civil engineering works, we have missed a key window for undertaking some key landscaping work (e.g. grass re-seeding), and it became apparent that a number of areas will not be ready for sign off and handover until Spring 2019. There is also a great deal of work required in relation to weed treatment that needs to take place during the winter months and this also needs to be completed prior to sign off.

Committee Members are meeting with Bellway on Friday 30th November to specifically discuss the on-going management of the remedial works and to ensure that all necessary work continues to be carried out at no additional cost to residents.

Service Charges
Residents should have received notification from DJC (Housing Association tenants may receive notification directly from their Housing Association) of the Service Charge for the period 1st January 2019 to 30th June 2019. Please note that this is merely the second half of the annual charge notified in June this year and there have been no changes to the chargeable amount.

Committee Members will begin discussions with DJC early in the new year about how future service charges are calculated so that residents can be clear where the money is being targeted and to ensure there is transparency that we are paying a fair price for the services received.

Parish Counncil Boundaries
There have been 59 responses to the survey in relation to Parish Council boundaries. Whilst the vast majority (96%) feel that we should fall within the Little Waltham Parish, we will need 250 electors willing to sign a petition before the City Council (and indeed the Little Waltham Parish Council) will consider progressing a Community Governance Review.

Please complete the survey if you haven’t done so and encourage anyone else you know to do the same!

https://surveyhero.com/c/ecbb111b

Neighbourhood Watch
Exploratory work is on-going to determine whether we can expand Neighbourhood Watch across the development (there is currently a ‘watch’ set up for Jigger Gardens), what this might involve and whether there is the desire from residents to get involved.

There is some useful information on the Chelmsford Neighbourhood Watch website which is worth a read.