Q: What is the Trenchard Close Residents Company Limited?
A: The TCRCL is a not-for profit organisation, responsible for the maintenance of Trenchard Close, Wellington Avenue, Friar Walk and Fairway Crescent. Every home owns a legal and non-financial share in the company which operates in the best interest of the community.
Q: What does TCRCL do?
A: Maintenance of the communal areas (eg, open spaces, tarmac-ed play area) around Wellington Avenue, Trenchard Close, Fairway Crescent and Friar Walk only, including trees, shrubs, flowerbeds and grass cutting. Maintenance and service of surface water drains in the above areas.
Q: Why don’t the council look after those areas?
A: As the estate was a former RAF base, the local authority had no responsibility for these areas. Except the roads and walkways. They have not adopted the green spaces which remain the responsibility of TCRCL. The foul drains are the responsibilty of TCRCL but surface water drains remain the responsibility of TCRCL as there is no legal obligation for them to be adopted by Severn Trent Water, and they are not willing to do so, despite being asked several times.
Q: Why do I still have to pay Council Tax?
A: Council tax contributes (not exclusively) towards upkeep of roads and walkways, bus stops and street lights as well as paying for waste collection and recycling. As the green spaces, tarmac-ed play area and other communal areas remain the responsibility of TCRCL, your Council Tax does not cover these.
Q: Who are the directors of TCRCL?
A: Directors are all residents within the boundary of TCRCL. They work on a voluntary basis. They are obligated by law to act in the best interest of the company in order to maintain a pleasant environment for all the residents.You can contact the directors with any queries or concerns relating to the village via email info@trenchardclose.co.uk
Q: What do the directors do?
· Collect maintenance (service) payments from homeowners
· Contact debtors
· Take debtors to court where applicable
· Ensure the annual accounts are done, as required by law & submitted to Companies House (03315559)
· Supply all documentation for the sale & purchase of properties.
· oversee and pay all invoices from contractors.
· Ensure all relevant insurances are in place.
Q: Why do I have to pay a fee?
A: Your money pays for the groundskeepers (we currently use Town and Country), and other contractors, relevant insurances, our accountant, legal fees and other maintenence expenses such as remedial work on all surface water drains. It also contributes to a reserve fund which is kept incase of unexpected expenses eg. when Travellers moved into the village, and also to maintain the drains as Severn Trent Water will not adopt them.
Q: Can I opt out of paying?
A: Unfortunately not. As a homeowner within the boundaries of TCRCL, you have a legal obligation to contribute to the company. Your home cannot be sold unless debts are paid, and the company maintains reserve funds in the event of legal proceedings. TCRCL has legal remit to collect outstanding monies from the sale of homes in the event of non-payment of fees.
If you have any financial queries please contact Finance@trenchardclose.co.uk
Q: Why have I paid Management Companies before rather than TCRCL directly?
A: Historically, TCRCL have employed the services of a management company to take care of the administrative duties listed above (under ‘what do the directors do’). These management companies are better suited to managing blocks of flats than a countryside estate and our account has been very small in comparison to their other contracts. The directors have recently decided to oversee some of these responsibilities themselves, and have employed an accountant (Dutchmans Ltd) to look after the financial side of the company, including paying invoices, collecting payments, the annual accounts, all insurances and to hold the position of company secretary. Everything else is undertaken by the directors.
Q: Why do you keep money in reserve?
A: Reserve funds are essential to TCRCL for occasions where legal proceedings need to be taken to reclaim debts in the event of non-payment of service fees. The reserves also cover emergency expenses such as those undertaken when the travellers stayed in the village, as well as ensuring we have the funds to swiftly deal with remedial issues connected to the drains. The alternative would involve billing each household in the event of an issue arising, which would delay works from being carried out. Having the funds in reserve allows TCRC to immediately act should an issue arise.
Q: What is the issue with the drains?
A: When the estate ceased to be the responsibility of the RAF or Annington Homes, maintenance of the drains was passed to TCRCL. In 2011 new legislation came into force and Severn Trent Water were obliged to take over responsibility for the foul drains on the estate. However this new legislation, the Flooding & Waste Water Management Act 2010, did not include our surface water drains as they run into soakaways, ditches & water courses, and these are exempt from the legislation. For this reason these have remained the responsibility of the Trenchard Close Residents Company. We are NOT able to change this although we have asked many times, because of this we maintain a reserve in our bank account in order to be able to pay for any emergency or routine maintenance that might need to be carried out in the future. There are four surface water drains under Wellington Avenue.
Q: How does phase 2 of the new estate impact residents of TCRC?
A: Wellington Avenue is the only access road for the homes on Chipmunk Way, Dakota Road, Firefly Close etc, and potentially the new houses being planned by Redrow. These residents will not be obliged to pay towards our drain maintenance and the local authority will not either.
TCRCL objected to the removal of the bus gate as it would dramatically increase the traffic flow over our surface water drains. All shareholders were written to regarding this matter however too few objections were received by the planning department to prevent it. This is why it is even more important that TCRCL keep funds in reserve.
If you have any further questions, please address them in the first instance to info@trenchardclose.co.uk
We will respond to you within 48 hours, and will add any additional information here if it is relevant to the other shareholders.
