Background information
In the late 1990s a company called Annington Homes bought all the empty RAF houses on Trenchard Close, Fairway Crescent & Friar Walk from the Ministry of Defence. After minimal maintenance they were put on the market. Whilst house sales were going through Annington homes managed the estate and looked after the communal areas.
Historically when the estate was an active RAF base the local authority did not look after the roads and walkways however Nottinghamshire County Council adopted these when the base was decommissioned
However the foul & surface water drains were not the responsibility of Severn Trent and the maintenance of these was the responsibility of Annington Homes.
Once the last property had been sold, Annington homes formed a limited company, Fulbuk423 Ltd which was then changed to Trenchard Close Residents Company Limited.(TCRCL) Every house was allocated one share certificate in TCRCL, a meeting was held and residents were invited to become directors. TCRCL became the owners of all the communal areas plus it had responsibility for all the foul and surface water drains.
Duties of TCRCL
· Collect maintenance (service) payments
· 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.
· Pay all invoices from contractors.
· Ensure all insurances are in place.
Until 2020 a property management company was engaged to act on the companies behalf to carry out these duties. When you purchase a property you have one share in the company and a legal obligation to pay the maintenance charge. No homeowner is exempt and houses cannot be sold if there is an outstanding balance of their maintenance. TCRCL will place a charge on the property and collect outstanding monies from the sale.
The Green spaces
All the green space and the tarmac-ed play area is owned by the company, it is not public land and for this reason Rushcliffe Borough Council & Notts County Council are not responsible for it. They will not mow the grass or do any grounds maintenance. TCRCL employ gardening contractors to attend to the grass cutting and maintenance of flowerbeds, shrubberies and trees. At present the contracts we use are Town and Country, we regularly review the contract and welcome feedback about the grounds.
In 2016 directors and other residents planted over 1000 bulbs the length of Wellington Avenue.
We also planted 30 trees to create a woodland on the right-hand side as you approach Wellington Avenue.
The Drains
After numerous problems with flooding into the streets and residents homes, TCRCL undertook a survey of the drain network under the estate & we discovered some were in a poor state of repair. Remedial work was commissioned over the next few years, to repair and replace where necessary.
Approximately £50,000 has been spent so far on the drains. It was therefore welcome news when new legislation came into force in 2011 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.
Wellington Avenue is also 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. There are four surface water drains under Wellington Avenue.
The Play Area
Annington Homes removed all the play equipment from the play area as the cost of insurance for this was extremely high, which unfortunately left large holes in the rubber flooring that were hazardous. TCRCL corrected this by tarmacing the areas concerned and repeatedly repairing the fencing around the area. Eventually the fencing was removed completely.
In 2010 the Parish Council agreed to provide a play area on the ground adjacent to the tarmac area which would be covered by Parish Council public liability insurance. In order to make this possible we lease the land to the council at a peppercorn rent. The result is the woodland trail you can see today. The Parish Council is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of this area including the grass up to the pavement and the trees in this small area.
If you have any queries or concerns about any element of this, you must direct your correspondence to them. The tarmac area however is the responsibility of TCRCL.
The Travellers
In 2017 a group of travellers set up home on the grassed area just past the millennium rock. They stayed there for about 72 hours but we had to pay bailiffs to evict them.
As a result of their visit we had to thoroughly clean and disinfect all areas around there as well as the park and play equipment as it was used as a toilet. We paid ‘Streetwise’ to do this and hired large concrete blocks as a temporary measure to prevent further access. We then invited all residents to a meeting in the tarmaced area to discuss and invite suggestions from them as to how to prevent this happening again.
As a result of this meeting it was decided to build up the banks of the grassed areas, purchase large stones to block vehicular access to the area, install children’s climbing logs, and install log posts to prevent access to the area behind the Fairway garages. The cost of this was approx. £30k
Administration
In 2020 the directors decided to stop using managing agents and decided to self-manage the estate instead. The rationale for this was the agents were not providing the service we felt we were paying for and did not understand the nature of the type of living environment we wished for.
We collected a range of quotes from a variety of management companies and accountants. We decided our interests would be best served using a company called Dutchman’s. They look after the financial side of the company, including paying invoices, collecting payments, the annual accounts, all insurances and hold the position of company secretary.
Everything else is undertaken by the directors.
Please remember
· All the directors give their time for free
· Your money is only spent after careful consideration
· We are obligated by law to act in the best interested of the Company
We have recently set up this website to enable you to know how your money is spent and include you in the decisions taken regarding our environment.
If shareholders have any concerns they can contact the directors, who are always available to speak to residents if they have any concerns. Email: Info@trenchardclose.co.uk or for financial queries: Finance@trenchardclose.co.uk
