Napsbury Park Residents Association changed its name from the ‘Forum Residents Association’ in October 2008.

The Aims and Objectives of the Association are:-

a)    to represent and promote the interests of the residents of Napsbury Park on matters concerning housing, the environment, and the social and community life of the area;

b)    to work in partnership with other agencies to achieve our aims;

c)    to uphold equal opportunities and work for good relations among members of the community.

The Association supports no political party.

Membership:

Membership of the Association is open to all residents of Napsbury Park. A membership form can be downloaded by clicking the above link.

The Association is democratic, open and managed by a Management Committee. Every member shall have an equal vote. Only one member per household shall have the right to vote at any general meeting.

Committee Members

The main Committee totals 14; 10 Freeholders and 4 Leaseholders elected pro rata to the number of properties in each category

Labyrinth Properties

Further Clock Tower LVT

Labyrinth is applying the decisions of the LVT heard at the end of October. The actual decision document is still awaited.

Labyrinth LVT - Once the 2010 Accounts have been signed off the LVT will be submitted to cover a number of outstanding issues. The application will be seen by the NPRA for comment before its submission.

Position re 2010 Accounts – As implied above minor adjustments need to be made to the draft Accounts for 2010 before they can be signed off and issued to residents. It seems probable that there may now be a small deficit on the Estate and Phase costs. The Accounts should be to hand shortly!

Arrears generally - Mid September showed arrears at £292k. They are now £236k. Of this £138k is historical and £98k from the current half year. Half of this is for the block maintenance works project. Of the accounts currently with solicitors the first group of 18 were approved to start court proceedings. There are still a large number either in negotiation with solicitors or Labyrinth credit control team.

Auditing of Accounts - The LVT’s view was that the leases do not provide for the accounts to be audited and hence there is no requirement to do so. They did say that the costs of undertaking such an audit would be large and if they were audited a leaseholder would have every right to apply to the LVT for an order that the costs were unreasonably incurred. They said that given the complexity of the accounts at Napsbury Park they may consider it reasonable to audit but obviously unless and until such an application was actually made a firm direction could not be given. Freeholders’ deeds do not require an audit but state that if the Accounts were audited then the cost could be included in the service charges.

There are clearly mixed feelings as to whether the Accounts should be audited but it would be very difficult to obtain a consensus. However it was agreed to ascertain from Labyrinth how much an audit might cost.

Commencement of Block Maintenance Programme

Major works – Phase 1 – It is expected that the commencement of work will start in January – this would avoid equipment being on hire and left idle over the Christmas holidays. The work is expected to take about 14 weeks. Neither the contractor nor the surveyor considers there would be a problem in doing the work during the winter months although obviously extreme bad weather would cause a delay. They stressed that extreme hot weather would causes delays in the summer so its swings and roundabouts!

A further supplementary consultation with the blocks in Phase 1 for internal works has been undertaken.   Owners in Pavilion House and the Birches are to go along with the original plan of replacing the wallpapered finish with a painted one to assist future maintenance. Great Leys and The Brownings are different in that they want to try and repair the existing wallpaper and repaint the painted finishes. The surveyor will undertake a further site meeting with the contractor to confirm this if that is feasible and he can then advise on the reduction in costs, if any.

Major works – Phase 2

Phase 2 will comprise Wilde Court, Logan Court, Acorn Court and Little Croft – the surveyor has commenced the work specification for Phase 2. In January Martin will start the consultation process whilst people can see for themselves the work underway in Phase1. That first consultation will end during February/March when the tender process would start. A second stage consultation would then take place with a view to charging for Phase 2 in the June 2012 invoices.

Maintenance Issues

Fallen Coping stones – Crest Nicholson & David Wilson Homes have inspected all houses with coping stones and have put necessary repairs in hand under advice to the individual home owners.

Landscaping Contract – Martyn Bass (from the new firm MBS replacing Group 66) has now signed on the dotted line. The Group 66 employees used in Napsbury Park will be transferred to MBS under TUPE rules. He has interviewed both men and is happy to employ them and train them at another of his sites.

Martin Tucker has so far had only a very limited number of complaints about the termination of Group 66, although he is getting some from people who feel that the standards have dropped even further since notice was given. Martin voiced these concerns to Group 66 although they vehemently denied that they were doing anything differently.

Trees – Martyn Bass and his tree guru have walked the site and read the Crest Nicholson Tree report. They are currently working with SADC to get the necessary permissions to undertake the top priority work on the Crest survey. They are also to survey the David Wilson Phases not covered by the Crest document.

Airing Shelters – Way forward – Proposed seats. The suggested cost was in the region of £5,700 plus VAT. The Committee felt the proposed scheme was too elaborate and in any case we simply cannot afford that sort of money at the moment. It was agreed the matter be reconsidered in the spring although the areas could be tidied up now.

Security / NHW - We are getting a spate of vandalism at the park. This was ranging from breaking light bollards to tampering with gate controls. We are encouraging that every incident however minor be reported to the police to get them to beef up their patrols.

Older children’s playground – this was currently out of action following further vandalism. The cost of repairing the current damage was beyond our means and even if we did repair it there was every likelihood of it being damaged again shortly thereafter. The Committee were concerned that this facility could be removed from the Park but after much discussion it was unanimously agreed that Martin Tucker be asked to approach SADC for permission to have it dismantled permanently. This could involve a considerable one off cost if agreement was reached but it would save regular expensive repairs and maintenance

RESIDENTS WERE AGAIN URGED TO REPORT ALL ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR TO THE POLICE AND OBTAIN A LOG NUMBER WHICH SHOULD BE ADVISED TO MAG COMBEMALE, NHW CO-ORDINATOR.

Mag would meet the new Police Sergeant next week; to update him on what has been happening in Napsbury Park.

Adoption of roads

Road markings – Only 22 people complained about the road markings in Goldring Way. It transpires that most of the markings are required if the road is to be adopted. Crest Nicholson undertook the work and whilst they included two unnecessary markings to remove them would make an even greater mess. Unfortunately CN cannot be made to resurface the road as they have only carried out markings that are in the Herts. Highways manual.

Should anybody wish to complain further they should address those complaints to Crest Nicholson?

The lack of markings on the bend where Goldring Way meets Siding Way had been raised by a resident. It was felt that as this junction will change in the adoption process now underway, with the chicane being removed, no action was necessary at this time. Residents should be extra careful and reduce speed on this bend and in fact all bends.

Membership / Treasurer – (Stuart)

We now have 250 members and a 50% representation of leaseholders and freeholders. The bank balance is £2068 with 24 members still to pay their subscription. There is an outstanding possible commitment to provide STRIFE for £600 if that is required to further fight the RFT.

On Facebook we have 224 members in the NPRA Group – 167 if one excludes partners/spouses.

Planning Applications

Planning meetings at SADC covering Napsbury Park will be held on 28^th November and 19 December.

Former Nurses Home.  – Application submitted for 9 Town House and 2 Granny flats / Wheelchair access. This is supported by NPRA, LCPC and Chris Brazier, HCC, and it is expected a decision will be made at one or other of the meetings mentioned above .SADC request made to resubmit the application with slight amendments. A decision will be made in February!!

There was some concern as to who would be responsible for the maintenance of the new road required from this development to join the existing road by the Pavilion. Martin would be asked to investigate and report back.

Old Chapel site- No progress to date. It is likely the developer will want to start on the former nurses home, if possible, before moving on to this site.

Connolly House – SADC and Developer are still discussing an enlarged scheme. Again this has the support of the parties above and we look forward to an early decision as this matter has been outstanding now for several years!!

Rail Freight Terminal –

Latest news. STRIFE circular. All members will have received a copy of the STRIFE circular from which further representations were sought before the Secretary of State once again makes his decision on whether the Helioslough project can go ahead. If he turns down the appeal again it is likely Helioslough will seek a judicial review so this matter is likely to run and run!

A.O.B

Dogs - Loose and Dangerous

A Resident reported that whilst he was running on the field by the pavilion last Saturday, he came across a young man with 2 Staffs the young man ensured him that they were OK and would not attack a human. When asked what about another dog the young man had no qualms in telling him that they would attack another dog and there wasn't a lot he would be able to do about it.

They were both off the lead but he maintained if he saw another dog he would put them on the lead. He asked if the lad had any recall with the dogs and he said if they saw another dog he would be helpless in calling them back. In the conversation he said he had a total of 4 Staffs, it was 5 but one had been put down that day for fighting. The runner was pretty sure that the lad lived in Norris Close. He informed the SADC Dog Warden but would advise all residents with dogs to be very watchful when out walking.

Another resident had earlier reported an attack on his dog by similar dogs which was again reported to the Dog Warden at SADC.

These matters were also reported to the Police, and the Dog Warden and the Police have confirmed they believe they know the owner and will be talking with him shortly.

Entrance Sign – This has drawn a number of complaints and Martin Tucker has been asked to look at replacing the current replacement with a sign that looks similar to the original one. Martin admitted that the finished product differed from the draft drawing he was originally given. He will seek out another supplier and liaise with NPRA before a decision is made.

Boyes Crescent Lighting – Martin (Labyrinth) undertook a consultation with the owners in Boyes Crescent regarding the lighting and gates. The result was that the majority of residents wanted to keep the lighting as it is. The vote on the gates was evenly split so he does not have a mandate to spend money on a new system. The existing gate system has been adjusted for longer opening hours.

It was suggested that the lighting might be improved if the height of the hedge could be reduced.

Line of Sight – Azalea Close / Pegrum Way from the Pavilion. – The problem was that the shrubbery / trees block the line of sight when exiting Azalea Close with traffic travelling too fast along Pegrum Way from the Pavilion. Martin will look into possible solutions.

COULD ALL MEMBERS WHO HAVE NOT YET PAID PLEASE DO SO ASAP

Baby Sitting

Emma Beesley, Age 18 and lives in Napsbury Park  Mobile 07982 470694

Beauty

Sams Nailz (Bio Sculpture Cel nails and Luxury Manicures) Based in the Park.

Sam Beesley 07703 174104    www.samsnailz.co.uk

Carpenter

Dell Carberry, Borehamwood 07970 110747

Cleaner

Christine Delaney, Pristine Angels at

www.bni-europe.com/chapter-member.php?chapter=7228member=10138795

(probably slightly more expensive than standard but very good and professional)

Construction / Decoration

Oliver Matthews - 07766 746056; Paul Matthews - 07778 382536

Free quote - www.matthewsconstruction-hertsltd.co.uk

Imodo design - John Murphy   Mobile 07894 036610

www.imododesign.co.uk

Electricians

Chris Marshall, London Colney - 07830 024053; Email:-   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Nick Medcraft Mobile 07979 590151  Email nick This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Paul - 07774 422073  Office- Manorside Electricals 0208 367 1381

Pete White - 07946 279044

SmartElectrical & Data, London Colney.  www.smartplc.com

Gardeners

Edward Biel, - 07966 573689 Covers March - November

Greensleeves (Lawn Care) 01923 678089

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jamie Morris - 07901 947704 Qualified Gardener with degree in horticulture.

www.jmorrisgardenservices.co.uk

Lawn Master (Andy Lloyd -lives adjacent to the Park and is a local premier league groundsman) Mobile 08451 295216   www.lawnmaster.co.uk

Parent & Baby Group

Meets for a coffee morning every Monday 10-12pm in the Pavilion.Any Napsbury resident welcome. Predominately hosts toddlers but there are some babies! Parents are asked to pay for a 10 week block (£20) to cover rent of Pavilion. Including Tania and Jo who do all the organising.

Email - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Painter / Decorators

David Cosgrove, Shenley 07905 698089

Gary - 07704 414722

Mike - 07776 486666

Neil Flatman, London Colney -  07952 437263

Plumbers

Ian (Pipeworks), St Albans 01727 758606

Mike Probyn, Shenley - 07717 777010

Roofing

www.cproofing.co.uk  -  07876 370446

Window Cleaners

Scott Rodney - 07944 729294  Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Traditional Window Cleaner with ladders and leathers!

Bubble & Squeak Cleaning - 07722804213

THE CHAIRMAN WOULD ALWAYS WELCOME COMMENTS FROM MEMBERS ON ANY MATTERS WHETHER RAISED AT OUR MEETINGS OR NOT.

Jeremy Chatterway, NPRA Webpage Editor.

2 October 2011

PS. Chairman's Email - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel:- 01727 824227

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