Islington Wharf

1 Attendees: 

Ian Forrester (IF)

Tim Gardner (TG)

Jonathan Isaacs (JI)

Claire Johnson (CJ)

Tracey Langford (TL)

James Needham (JN) Chair

Lee Pratt (LP) Revolution

Laura Walker (LW)  Revolution

2. Apologies:

Tim Jacobs, Susan Swientozielskyj, Anand Patel, Katherine Harrison

Agenda Item:

3. Minutes of the last meeting: Accepted and agreed as a true record.

4. Actions from last meeting:

A.             Weekly meetings progress and outcomes progress: LP advised he is involved in these along with Tom & Emma. No developments of note to pass on to the committee. 

A1 – JN asked if any progress had been made on the Water Pumps which he had raised as a concern at the last meeting. JN raised that this is now peak period for the heating system to be used which will put additional strain on the system and could leave people without heating should something fail. No updates or progress at hand to provide updates at this point. Action – LW – Provide update

A2 – JN also informed Revolution of the noise coming from the car park, that he assumed was the emergency generator. Given this had been going all day why were they only now just aware? Investigation needs to be undertaken on costs of having it running, alerting, cause, future process etc. LP advised he would get Kingspan out to assess, who hold the maintenance contract for it. Action – LP

A3 – JI asked what was happening with the items in the car park that were supposed to be removed. Number of emails exchanged with Emma Wilson but nothing has happened. LP stated Caretaker and Resident had politely asked the contractor not to remove them. This was followed up by the office, to the resident. Contractor was supported to attend today but has not, as items still there. JI challenged that what’s the point of these meetings if simple items like this can not be resolved in over a month? Action – LW – To contact pest proof.

 

• Updates: 

(i). Update from Waterside Places JN stated that he had seen the comms from WP explaining conversations are still happening but no update as yet. LW followed up with they were expecting another update on the 20th December, and they were hopeful to have completed the process before the end of the year.

 

(ii). Roof leak apartment 200: LP stated that Anand had been in contact with Wayne about replacement materials. TL challenged this and gave a brief update on the situation. JN re-read the actions from the previous meeting and asked if this had happened. TL stated no, Revolution stated it had but could not provide details to TL on what had happened, or what the proposed actions and details were. More transparency is needed here. Action – Revolution Provide list of actions (Project Plan) on this matter and work with those involved to tick them off. Blockers to be brought up to the committee weekly.

JN stated the progress on this was just not good enough. It has been months since the paving had been lifted and the fin investigated, and as a result of this work the water ingress issues had been greatly exacerbated. Correspondence and leadership was lacking on this matter and visits that were supposed to have taken place had been cancelled with little notice. Tom stated they had found the matching glass at the last meeting, the glass or proposals have not been presented, so what have revolution done in the last month to progress this matter? Action – Revolution – Explain

 

(iii). Roof block A – Full plan for the repair of this is with WP. LP stated that Schedule, Plan and costing is being discussed with Anand and WP this week and they will be communicating this out to those affected. JN asked to be copied in on this. Action – Revolution – Send out update

JN – Raised concerns that as with all the points so far actions on this matter appear to be very slow even making tiny steps forward. Given Christmas is right around the corner, this would likely delay further actual action (eg. getting a contractor in place and work started) unlikely before mid January. What additional damage will be done to the building and peoples apartments in that time. If it snows, the standing water is likely to have a much greater impact, why is the pace always so slow for each tiny action? Action – LW – Laura will provide an update by end of week, Even if it’s just informational. IF stated any information is better than nothing. 

(iv). Cladding – JN stated update from last meeting was -”final report should come in the next few days. The scaffolding is being paid for by WP and a decision for its removal will be made asap after the report has been reviewed”. JN asks why we STILL DO NOT HAVE THIS REPORT AFTER 5 MONTHS? LW advised she has not seen any report come in, but she will chase Tom. JN asked why do we again not know the status of this? 4 weeks wasted if the report has not been received or chased. This is affecting people’s ability to sell their apartments, and causing additional issues because of the crash decking. Action – Revolution LW to chase Tom.

IF pushes Revolution to commit to replying by the end of the week. JN agrees we need updates on all items by then. JN stated we shouldn’t have to Manage these actions as that is what we pay Revolution for, but nobody feels tangible steps are being made to move any of these things forward. TG states the committee have asked to be copied in multiple times to emails on a number of subjects to ensure actions are being taken. Nothing has materialised. Is this because of a blocker or because no action is being taken. LW says she will address this with Anand and Tom – Action – Revolution – LW

 

TG states that it’s crucial that the committee now get copied into these conversations to give us confidence actions are taking place. As the feeling in the meetings is nothing is happening. No reason for the committee not to have visibility on this. JN states that this doesn’t have to be on everything, but it does need to be on our top items. The water ingress, solar gain, cladding etc. and requests the committee be forwarded the existing email trails for these items. Action – Revolution

 

(vi). Rockwool: PK has some questions to pose to Revolution on this matter, but he is not at the meeting today. This is in relation to Rockwool not being installed, but KingSpan. Action – PK

 

What is happening with the investigation on this product? No action taken for months as far has as been communicated? Action – Revolution

 

• Onsite log of contractor visits: JN stated he had asked to view this last week and he believed there was not enough detail there. Caretaker stated that we was getting emails from the office stating who is turning up onsite but not always what actions they will be undertaking. JN states this is crucial so we know the task that the contractor was onsite for is complete and they can be payed for the work. This obviously did not happen, and still has not happened with the lighting and the crash decking. JN believes Revolution have and continue to pay for work that is substandard, uncompleted and/or incorrect. It has no mechanism for ensuring work is being carried out correctly and has been grossly negligent in its responsibilities in this area. Revolution needs to carry out a review on this and improve urgently. – Action – Revolution

D.             WP/LOR: No further update. Outcome of the settlement is awaited.

E.             KONE: JN askes how the meeting regarding SLAs went, and apologises that no one from the committee could attend due to work commitments. LW stated that the dilapidation survey had been complete and insurance report from BES. This has been sent over to ILACS for Review to ensure the costs are reasonable and the recommendations are suitable oversite wise. JN states what progress has been made here as this was the same update shared last month and the reports have still not been shared with the committee? What’s the timeline on actions? LW to send current reports to the committee. Action – Revolution – LW

F.             Crash deck -  JN stated that in the last meeting JI flagged that some residents are complaining that access to block A is difficult. Revolution will ask the scaffolding company to assess. Nothing has progressed on this? Why? LW to follow up with Crest on this Action – Revolution – LW

G.             Garden: JN stated update at last meeting   LW has asked Eric Wright for quotes to match up the fencing. Laura stated that it came back as £12,380+VAT. Committee states that Waterside Places agreed to cover the costs on this. LP stated this was on the agenda to agree costs at the next meeting. Action – Revolution

H.             Lighting update: No progress second month in a row. LW states a meeting is taking place to discuss this with the contractor. JN counters why do you need a meeting. The wrong product was installed, they need to come back to do the job as instructed. Why does this need a meeting? LW states in future they can copy the caretaker in to the contractor instructions (Purchase Orders / Quotes) so he can sign work off as completed correctly. – Action – Revolution – LW

 

JN reiterates on this matter that this is one of the major issues we see with Revolution. Piece of work to be carried out, nobody onsite knows its happing, the work carried out is incorrect, it took months to put into place, now taking months to address the incorrect install. By time it is resolved the hording will be taken down and we will have seen no benefit.

 

The committee will take this out of Revolutions hands and complete the work themselves if necessary and claim the costs back. TG states the bulbs can be ordered off Amazon next day delivery to fit the existing unit, which we have been told are not available to your contractor.

 

JI states the lists of actions are only getting longer and longer, we are not resolving items meeting to meeting. JN made a valid point that the other 2 senior members of revolution are not here to support them as they again take a grilling. They can not look forward to these meetings, as we talk about the same items over and over. Unfortunately as the face of revolution you get the grilling and accountability at these meetings. LW states she will get a date from T&A to carry out the work and communicate that this week. Action – Revolution – LW

 

I.               Food waste: Food bin has still not been removed. This seems to have been due to a miscommunication. Caretaker instructed Biffa not to remove the bin as it was now being use properly with no recent incidents. These were also being cleaned on a regular basis. The committee discussed further JI stated it will come to summer and we will issues with smells and fly’s like we did this year. Committee decided for now it should be removed. LW stated they have agreed this will be moved to the new development as they want to do the scheme and should be much easier for them being smaller. Action – Revolution – LW.

J.              Welcome Pack: JN stated that hard copies had not been received into the office so they can be distributed to new tenants. LW stated that the new version had been uploaded to myRevolution, and emailed to the caretaker. JN stated Anand said in a previous meeting the office could print these and get a set over as needed. This has not materialised. Action – Revolution

K.             Block A shopfronts: LW stated that this was with Tom and does not have an update for us. Which the committee found disappointing given it was on the agenda. Revolution to provide an update ASAP. Action – Revolution.

L.             Planters (internal): JN stated information was on Slack.

M.           Car Park: JN states we covered much of this previously (A3). JI asks revolution about the new flood lights that were installed. Were these supposed to be wired in correctly as currently they are plugged into a socket at ground level. Which means they can simply be turned off making them useless, or someone could use that feed for other purposes. It is believed that this is a temporary fix until the main unit above space 49/50 can be properly fixed. Committee stated this has to be a temporary fix. Action – Revolution – LW.

N.             Window cleaning: Committee stated survey had still not got round regarding the recent clean. LP stated they final phase had only been completed and they got confirmation at 2pm today. Lee stated they would get this out in the next few days as he is aware that a few residents in particular feel strongly about this. JI states can we take it that after every window clean a survey should go out? LP states this happens, and if they get responses that show a particular elevation has been missed, they get them back out. Action – Revolution – LP

5. Click up actions from last meeting: JN has updated click up. Nothing further to add.

7. Health and Safety:

a.              Blue lights on the crash deck – need to be UV and not LED. Covered in 4H.

b.              Number of incidents reported of drugs use under crash decking

c.              Pallets and wood stacked up under crash decking presents a fire risk. LP stated he can ask the retail units who is responsible to get it removed. Action Revolution – LP

8. Security: IF asked about his question from the last meeting “IF also asked again if remote monitoring of our CCTV could be considered as this might offer improved security and deterrent.” LW stated she did not but this was because she had not managed to get all 3 contractors that had quoted onsite for a walk round and put a tender in. JN asked if they were simply tendering to monitor the video feed remotely, why do they need to visit site? Surely they will be quoting only on the amount of feeds being viewed, x the number of hours. LW stated Thursday they would potentially have a further update – Action Revolution – LW

LP stated he had also enquired about onsite full-time patrol. Person would be here 8pm to 8am. Roaming the site and watching the CCTV. The figure came out a lot more expensive than they expected. £6000 a month. JN asked could we not employ someone directly to cut out the ‘middle man’ inflating the costs? LP & LW mentioned they have looked at this for other developments, being employed as a contractor or directly. Action – Revolution – LP

Further discussion and options needed on this.

9. Questions from residents:

1.     Installation of electric car charging points. LP states the costs are £4500+VAT. This would have to be from the lease holder. After discussion there seemed to be a lot of confusion over if Waterside Places would have to give sign off? If residents would as a majority have to allow the installation. LW says it depends on the lease. JN stated that surely someone has come up with an approach that works for Apartment buildings so that costs can be accurately be distributed? Action – Revolution

10. AOB:

a.              Christmas Tree – new one will be dropped off on Thursday. Caretaker to decorate.

b.              Power take off block b for lighting between new phase and IW. Anand was to investigate but no progress or outcome fed back to the committee. LW says she thinks she has seen an email from Eric Wright stating this had been done, and it was coming off the new phase. JN should Eric Wright be marking their own ‘homework’? The cabling clearly comes into IW car park, and the flood light cable has been disconnected/redirected? This is very suspect. Action – Revolution – LW

c.              TG stated he brought up the hand sanitiser at the last meeting. He sent an email on the 11^th November. Emma replied stating they would look into it. Followed up again 25^th November. TG asked if they knew if this had been done? They thought it had, but TG stated he checked on the way to the meeting and it was still empty. This small job should have been solved in days, TG stated if you cant manage a hand sanitiser over several months, how can we be confident in you managing the building? JN stated a new item could be ordered next day from Amazon and installed in days. The committee will take this out of Revolutions hands if it can not be sorted by the end of the week. Action – Revolution

Date and time of next meeting: 

Monday 6 January at 19.00hrs,
Medical Centre.