RECEIVED FOR WEB FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER

Dear Mr Burt,

 

Thank you for your recent communication. In answer to your comments please note below:-

 

 1. The Office within the former Doctors Surgery houses the following:-

 

a. Whitehouse Services.

b. Foster Electrical (Gosport) Ltd

c. Independent Estate Securities.

 

As was stated to you in our last Email. We are acting on behalf of Labyrinth Properties in respect of problems to be reported on the Estate.

 

Problems that occur on the Estate can be reported in our office. The problem will be logged and forwarded to Labyrinth Properties Rectification will be authorised and carried out so we are informed. The letter sent out by Labyrinth prior to 1st Sept 2005 gave the format of contact in the event of an emergency outside office hours.

 

It is our intention shortly to employ a receptionist / Administrator in the near future. Until that time we are trying to man the office internally. Our usual opening hours are 09.30 to 16.30 Monday to Friday. However should the outer office door be closed enquiries or reports should be directed to Security on the usual telephone number. These will be recorded and passed to the appropriate person for immediate action. Further changes to this will be notified in due course.

 

May I also point out that this is not an Official Estate Office and that we are only acting as a channel for estate matters to Labyrinth Properties.

 

Enquiries may be directed to any of the following:-

 

Estate Security, Richard White (Whitehouse Services) or David Foster (Foster Electrical (Gosport) Ltd) Once the Receptionist has been employed within the Office they will be the focal point for communications or requests.

 

2. Water Pressure.

 

I have had a phone call from Joan Hussey in regard to the Water Pressure Problem. In response to this problem I have recently spoken to Labyrinth Properties in relation to the water pressure. I can now confirm the following.

 

a. There was a pressure pump on the premises some time ago. This was situated on the first Floor landing opposite the lifts in Livingston Court. This pump room was taken out by the water supply company some time ago when new mains were installed to the site. The Water company is responsible for the supply to the high rise flats entirely and is not the responsability of the Landlord. This would have been different if the pump station was still in use. I know that they have been contacted and have carried out checks but unfortunalely I cannot answer the problem myself. I do know that the problem does not exist all the time but at certain times of the day or night. I do not know what the answer is or how this can be remedied. The proble lies with the water supply company. This has been logged and will be monitored. Could you please get the affected properties to log the times of pressure problems so that they may be refered to Portsmouth Water for them to investigate fully as I am sure that to date they have not.

 

The reasons for the removal of the pump are not known by us however it may have been on a mater of Health & Safety in respect of stagnant water storage harbouring bugs etc. ??

 

In respect of the cost of another Estate Office. I can assure you this is not another estate office. Whitehouse services are vacating Unit 11 and unit 8 will be available to be rented out as a commercial unit as will be Unit 11. The cost for the former doctors surgery is met by Whithouse Services & Foster Electrical (Gosport) ltd. It is not comming from the Service Charge account.

 

I hope that this clarifies the situation and your questions.

 

        l

Dear Mr Burt,

 
Further to our conversation today I would like the opportunity of forwarding the information in respect of the Office opening.
 
As everybody should be now aware the Old Doctors Surgery now holds the following service available to the Estate.
 
Independent Estate Security.
Whitehouse Services &
Foster Electrical (Gosport) Ltd.
 
It is our intention to provide a communal point of access to the Estate Maintenance Services. We will act as a channel for the Estate problems that occur. The office hours are as follows
 - Monday to Friday 09.30 to 16.30 hours.
 
Currently we are trying to man this internally but in time will seek to have a receptionist to take messages on behalf of the residents. These will be documented and forwarded directly to Labyrinth Properties. Copies of the forwarded messages will be given a priority & time limit for action accordingly. It is anticipated that responses to the reports will be prompt.
 
The Office report line will remain the same as will the No's for both Whitehouse services & Foster Electrical (Gosport) Ltd
 
023 9250 2400   (Formerly Rowner Estates Office) Manteca Report Line
023 9258 8688   Foster Electrical (Gosport) Ltd
023 9252 4852   Whitehouse Services
07879 272641    Security
 
Entrance to the Office is via the entrance located from the NAAFI side of the building between the open hours Please will people use this entrance and not the entrance located within the Stairwell. Should the Inner door not be open we currently have provided a bell to alert staff to a visitor. In the event of nobody present within the Office Security to be contacted in order to alert the appropriate staff & response.
 
We are hopeful that we can serve the resident groups on site in the appropriate manner and welcome visitors to convey the problems through us accordingly
  
David Foster

CHANNEL 4 TELEVISION

On Friday July 29th  channel 4 TV interviewed certain residents living in the high rise block. On Saturday Dr Trier and a spokesman for Gosport Council were interviewed along with other residents. This programme will go on air in November this year. Channel 4 have to date been very helpful in our fight for justice on the estate.

 

Rowner Carnival July 16th 2005
The VRA held a stall at the Rowner Carnival and it was a great success. Many thanks to Joan Hussey, Lynda Bell and Maggie Hammond for all their efforts in making it such a success. The profit made was £73 25p.
 
A car boot sale will held on the 7th August in aid of the legal fund. Anyone wishing to offer their help please contact Joan Hussey or any committee member.

Vandalism on the Estate.

We have sent various e mails to Nick Faulkner of Labyrinth Properties. He has this time acknowledged the receipt of the e mails, but has failed to enter into discussion of the issues we have mentioned. At present LPL are the managing agents and we are the elected VRA. Therefore we have every right to expect a working relationship to exist. It does not. The issues are the gangs of youths that are creating problems in various areas of the estate and the mess that they leave. Plus of course any damage that they may do. We are members of the Dovetail project and attend meetings with the police and various other organisations, therefore we do expect some feedback from the managing agents. Unfortunately this is not happening.
 
 Car Boot Sale
The first of the car boot sales held by the VRSG was held on Sunday 19th June. The profit was £47. This has been paid into the VRLF and will be going towards the legal fees. Another car boot sale is planned for the near future. May we say a very big thank you to Joan Hussey, Linda Bell and Maggie Hammond for doing the sale.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF RESIDENTS ASSOCIATIONS N.O.R.A.

 We the elected VRA have now renewed our membership with the above body. The Chairman is Dr Allan Shrank. Together as a body of residents associations we are very much closer to becoming recognized by the government. Which will be a huge step. The following is part of an e mail from Dr Allan Shrank
 
In this last year it is clear that government departments recognise that we represent a large body of residents and are prepared to consult us and listen to our responses, whereas they are reluctant to pay attention to single residents associations.
 
All this is good news for us as a Residents association.
 
ABUSIVE  BEHAVIOUR - (posted 11/6/5)
We on the elected VRA/VRSG committee will NOT tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour towards any member of the committee. We on the committee are and have over the past years worked hard for the good of ALL residents, whether they be owner occupiers or renters. We work towards justice for all  and give many hours of our time freely. We pay into the legal fund exactly the same as everyone else. Any more threats will be classed as harassment and the police will be informed and charges brought.
A list of all committee members and officers will soon be displayed on the precinct with a contact number. If anyone has any questions please asked a committee member

 

 

VRSG MEETING 3RD JUNE NIMROD CENTRE

At the above meeting our recent LVT was discussed  in some depth, and the way forward for us all, once the tribunal have made their decisions known. We also discussed Labyrinth Properties Limited’s refusal to acknowledge any e mails sent to them from us re the estate and problems reported to us. These issues will have to dealt IF LPL stay as the managing agents.

The 5th donation for 2005 was taken – thank you.

Labyrinth letter re Asbestos Survey

click on the images to see clearly

click on the images to see clearly

Estate Office Opening Hours (click on image - you may have to enlarge to 50%)

Illegally Parked cars - some good news! (click on image - you may have to enlarge to 50%)

ESTATE CLEANLINESS - CORRECT INFO!

The VRA Committee and many of its members have been working together  to keep an eye on the cleanliness of the Village and rubbish chutes. This information has then been relayed to Councillor Alex Bone and through him to Ian Lycett (Gosport Council) and the Environmental Health dept. This has been the case since the cut back on cleaning in the Village. On the 10th of October  a list of names was e mailed to Councillor Bone who personally vouched for them and helped arrange for two skips to be delivered to a centralised position in the Village. Should the build up in the rubbish chutes become to much then further action will be taken. The VRA is your voice on the estate, dedicated to trying to improve our environment - if you have any concerns, problems or issues, we will try our best to resolve them.

INFO FROM KAREN KILLEEN AS GIVEN TO VRSG CHAIRMAN ON 29TH SEPTEMBER 2004

 A vetting process has been set up and all letting agents have been informed. Letting agents could be held responsible for damage caused by tenants.   
 
INSURANCE
To date the insurance for the buildings has been renewed, thus under the requirements of the insurance policy the security will remain. We do have reduced cover on both cleaning and general maintenance,  however this is in the interest of making savings and enabling the estate to continue at the current level until an LVT determination.
 
The original letters from Karen are held by Vic Burt VRA/VRSG Chairman anyone wishing to read or receive a copy please get in touch with a committee member.

DR EVANS AND PARTNERS THE VILLAGE ROWNER CLOSURE DATE FRIDAY 3RD DECEMBER

 A decision has been taken by Dr Evans and partners to close the surgery on Friday December 3rd  All activities will be transferred  to Gosport Health Centre Privett Rd
"The doctors feel that they are unable to offer a satisfactory level of service to their patients from such inadequate premises which are poorly maintained and now substandard  to the basic requirements for high quality medical care."
An excerpt from a letter sent out from the surgery. Considering the high service charges this is beyond belief.

VILLAGE INSURANCE - some GOOD news!

At a VRSG meeting on Tuesday the 31st of August a vote was taken to take out an injunction against Rowner Estates to prevent them from stopping paying our insurance. The vote was unanimous  for the injunction to  be issued.

After discussions with LEASE and our legal rep Linda Lockyer and assistance from Mr Munch we had begun the process as it is the  Freeholders obligation in law to insure the property and reclaim the costs from the service charge.

 
It is now no longer necessary to take out the injunction as Mr and Mrs Munch have received  an undertaking from Rowner Estates that they will insure the estate.

 

Grange Ward - Local police Meeting 16th of June 2004

The purpose of the meeting was to give members of the public an understanding of the policing issues affecting the area in which they live and work. Sgt Steele opened the meeting giving those present an overview of the wider aspects of policing within Gosport. He also asked for examples of the difficulties encountered by residents of the Rowner Beat to be written on forms that had been circulated before the meeting and these included: illegal parking and speeding; antisocial and intimidating behaviour; drug-related incidents including used needles and syringes left about the estate.

 

He gave examples of measures that had been introduced which seemed to have reduced some antisocial occurrences, e.g. gangs of young people roaming the High St and fighting once the pubs and clubs close. The introduction of a Government funded late night bus service helped people get home and had helped put a stop to most of these problems. This and other initiatives had brought about a 33% reduction in burglaries and a 70% reduction in car theft making our area the second lowest crime area in the Gosport are, beaten only by Lee-on-Solent!

 

Sgt Steele then introduced our Beat Manager, PC Gary Boud. who gave us an overview of what had happened in our ward over the last 12 months, the issues affecting the area at present and the plans in place for the future. He explained his role in crime reduction in our particular area, working with the Council and Housing Associations to spotlight areas needing attention. he gave as an example the so-called Rowner Crew which had consisted of 25 youths, of these 20 are now in regular employment and 5 are under supervision orders.

 

The Dovetail project (see link) is a trial project being examined in 2 areas of Hampshire: Rowner and Aldershot town centre. The general environment is targeted - the behaviour of children and teenagers; the antisocial use of cars (speeding and illegal parking); road safety and the provision of supervised crossings. He went on to say that he would like to see local panels of 8-9 people on each estate who would meet with him every couple f months to discuss progress. He asked for help from residents in reporting crimes or antisocial behaviour, they could contact the police by phone, either by dialling 999 if it was a serious crime or if less serious, e.g. illegal parking, by dialling 0845 045 45 45.

 

There then followed a period of questions and discussion giving everybody the chance of expressing any concerns about police related issues and discussing any ideas that might assist in reducing crime and disorder.

 

It's up to you - don't moan about it - REPORT IT and DO SOMETHING!!

 

MUGA - Multi-use Games Area

This is to be situated at Siskin Junior School. there will be hard-court surface areas and a floodlit Astroturf area. This will support a range of activities including football, netball and many other sports. It will be used by the school and will also be accessible to local residents and community groups. Work is due to start in August and is hoped to be completed by November. this brand new facility is being funded by Gosport Council and the labour Government.