| Attendees: | Ian Forrester (IF)Jonathan Isaacs (JI)Claire Johnson (CJ)Paul Kelly (PK)Tracey LangfordJames Needham (JN) ChairAnand Patel (AP) RevolutionSusan Swientozielskyj (SS)Laura Walker (LW) Revolution |
| Apologies: | Tim Gardner, Katherine Harrison |
| Agenda item: | |
| 3. | Minutes of last meeting: Accepted as a true record. |
| 4. | Actions from last meeting:Note that this item is a featured review from the open items on ClickUp, led by the Chair. Before starting the discussion on this item, AP informed the Committee that he has been in discussion with JN on a regular basis re: improving the level of service to the residents of Islington Wharf. He introduced Laura Walker to the group. Laura is the new building manager and she has a larger team to support her in meeting the needs of IW and its residents. JN expressed that there is now a need to see the improvements pledged as residents and Committee members have expressed their concerns about the increasing level of poor service experienced over the last year. ClickUp Open items:Latent defects:Nothing to report at this time other than Waterside Places (WP) have met without prejudice with Laing O’Rourke but nothing has been shared with Islington Wharf since then. It is also telling that correspondence from WP now comes without a named signatory. TL and CJ reported that nothing has been done to rectify the significant defects affecting their apartments. Most importantly, a plan had been costed and agreed to rectify those issues but it has not been executed. Furthermore, information regarding this is not forthcoming.Investigate alternative cooling:JI informed the Committee that he has had solar reflective film applied to the inside of his windows as has Sana Khan, previous Committee member. He has funded this himself as a permanent fix to the heat gain issue affecting his apartment, and in the absence of any solution from WP although they did give him their consent to proceed. The benefit so far is a heat reduction of upto 10 degrees centigrade.PK flagged that the film applied internally can cause a fracture risk due to heat build up in the double glazed unit; this doesn’t happen when the film is applied externally. The Committee then had a discussion about the general risks and benefits, and previous input by WP on this as a potential solution. There is no action from this item. ClickUp Open Items:Front door opening Block B: signs were moved but impossible to know the benefit at the moment because of the scaffolding and crash deck surrounding the entrance/building. Leave now and review again when the scaffolding is removed.Picture on screen – committee members: Those members who are happy to have their picture published to send a photograph to IF by end of the week. Action: Committee members.Cladding: Thomason Surveyors are leading the investigation and the lab testing will be carried out by Sandburgs. They collected the panels today. The Committee was surprised at this, why has it taken so long? AP explained that this is the soonest anything could be done because of the impact of the Grenfell Fire Disaster and the ensuing review of the cladding of all high rise buildings. A report should be available by the end of June. In the meantime, the Committee wanted to know about the cost of the scaffolding and who is paying for it? AP advised that the cost is £400 pw to hire; it cost c£20k to erect and will be minimal cost to remove. Who will be liable to pay will depend on the outcome of the testing. Stack fire proofing: all works are complete. Rockwool: this investigation has now been formally passed to Rockwool by Revolution. JN expressed the Committee’s concern about the delays around this issue and that was agreed to be done has not been done. Ultimately, the residents of IW need to be assured that the fire retardant property of Rockwool insulation will not fail if it gets wet through water ingress. The issue has been in play over 12 months and a definitive response is needed asap. Action: Revolution.Black Mould: Apartments affected by this can now be treated by PestProof, the company commissioned by Revolution to do this work. Information will go out to all residents for those affected to come forward to Revolution. Safety of the access road: SIP signage has been re-erected and so far 27 tickets have been issued through the self-ticketing route. IW gets £10 from every fine paid. Revolution to chase up with SIP about the App for members for self ticketing purposes. The self ticketing approach currently only applies to vehicles illegally parked on the access road; it doesn’t cover the car park at this time although JI confirmed that 2 tickets have been issued to cars illegally parked in owners spaces after proof of ownership was supplied. Clarity is needed as to where this income is saved. Action Revolution.Garden: the new benches are now installed; the Committee thanked Katherine Harrison for doing a great job on leading this work. There is still a need for some additional casual comfy seating; residents are asking for this. LW will contact and work with KH on this. Action LW/KH.Car park cleaning: overall this has not been great. JI suggested that perhaps the best solution would be for WP to buy the machine so that we can do it ourselves. AP to take this up with WP. Action: APBudget Steering Group: AP to set a second meeting date. Action: AP. |
| 5. | Islington Wharf General:Councillor Engagement: Councillor Lucy Powell has again written to WP regarding action on the latent defects of IW. She has also involved Homes England and they have offered to attend a meeting with the Committee and also with us and WP. JN will continue to work with Lucy on this action. Action: JNLift maintenance: JN expressed concern that this is another long standing problem with seemingly poor response. AP confirmed that action has been taken and it is noted that the lift noise is now intermittent. JN requested that Revolution Management (RM) share the details of the lift management reports so that everyone is clear about the action/s taken as and when a problem arises. RM agreed to do this. Action: Revolution.Waste management: Excellent news. A food waste bin has now been installed free of charge by Manchester City Council. Caddies, bags and information leaflets have been delivered and these will start to be issued from the main office shortly. RM will notify all residents that this service is available to those who want to use it. |
| 6. | Revolution monthly report: not discussed. The Committee agreed that this item to be removed from the regular agenda as it isn’t serving any useful purpose. The report is available from AP if and when required. No further action. |
| 7. | Phase 3: Will be completed mid July. No action from this meeting. |
| 8. | Latent defects:See item 4. In addition: There was another problem with the hot water again over the last weekend, ie residents did not have hot water. This is a fairly frequent problem. What, if anything, can be/is being done to rectify against future failure? JN also asked that notices to residents are more timely, ie regular updates so that people know what is going on. Action: Revolution. |
| 9. | Health and Safety:Refer to item 4. In addition: The front entranceways will need revamping, cleaning etc when the scaffolding is removed.Matt has developed a welcome pack for new residents. Please review and feedback accordingly. Action: Committee members.Roof cleaning – this is going to be done whilst the scaffolding is in place. There is a lot of debris and rubbish on the roof. |
| 10. | Questions from residents: Some residents have asked for letterboxes to be fixed. All agreed that this isn’t really applicable to RM. All residents are given a key to their box and if they lose it, it is then their responsibility to change the lock. Also noted that at least one letterbox has a coded lock. Is this apartment being used as an Airbnb residence? |
| 11. | AOB: RM are stopping the plant contract as the plants continue to die. Next steps to be agreed. Bring forward to next meeting.General point was raised about off-site surveillance but AP advised this has been considered but the cost is prohibitive.KH has fedback that the new boiler installed in her apartment is much better than the old one and it is much smaller. AP advised that boilers will only be replaced as needed.AP confirmed the works to apartment 65 are now complete and restorative works will be extended to the apartments on each side. Surveyors have tested above and to each side. The problem was caused by a building defect and the costs of repair have been referred back to WP.PK flagged that the cladding to Block B is very dirty and in need of a clean.AP informed the Committee that the remaining car park spaces will be sold.LW is going to do a walk through of the building and asked if any Committee members would like to join her? JN and JI happy to do this. Date to be agreed. Action LW with JN/JI. |
| Date & time of next meeting: | Monday 1st July at 19.00hrs. |