Islington Wharf

        Islington Wharf Residents Association

APOLOGIES:

• As above.

MINUTES LAST MEETING:

• Accepted as a true record.

UPDATE ON MATTERS FROM MINUTES OF LAST MEETING & MATTERS DISCUSSED WITH REVOLUTION:

• Dog mess in lift:

• It was disclosed at the last meeting that Revolution had identified the dog owner in question and pledged that a formal letter would be sent advising the owner of the consequences should this happen again. However, an update from AP contradicts this earlier information in that Revolution are now unable to confirm who was responsible and therefore a warning letter has not been issued. The Committee is dissatisfied with this lack of action and will request Revolution to put out a general communication to dog owners re: what is expected of them. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Sink hole:

• Work is complete. The report detailing the work done will be finalised mid March and made available to the Committee. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Lifts:

• Failure on the 17th Feburary required a return visit; the problem was traced to a loose connector in the cable trunking in the lift shaft.
• The report detailing all faults with the lift has not been submitted to the committee, and is still outstanding by Revolution. The committee request that this report is brought to the meeting in April. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Electronic Noticeboards:

• Permission has been given by Waterside Places and Braemar for the installation. Cn not go ahead and place the order. IF to lead on this project. ACTION: IF.

• Water logging in gardens

• WL is awaiting the price of the remedial works to be accepted and then the job can go ahead. Will take approximately 3 weeks to complete. ACTION: WL.
• Other issues affecting the main garden are more complex to deal with at this time especially in relation to the development of Phase 3 which has been given the green light to proceed by Manchester Council. The Committee will keep a watching brief on this as Phase 3 moves forward (or not).

• Motorbike parking:

• Work in progress and should be completed by end of March.

• Resident boiler maintenance:

• Heating Doctor have been selected and a review plan has been agreed.

• Monthly report from Revolution with tickets raised.:

• Revolution are still testing the system for producing the report whilst the Committee note that the submission of an issue log report for review and discussion at the monthly committee meeting is a long standing action. The committee request that a date by which this system will be live be given at the next meeting. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Car park security upgrade:

• New parts etc have been ordered and the new system will be installed in tandem starting mid March. Change over to the new system will then commence – expected notice to residents by end of March. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Renting of apartments – lease essential information.

• The ‘Helpful Information for Residents’ compiled by TL is now almost ready following input by Committee members. It just needs a final tidy up and application of the logo and then a plan to disseminate and make available.
• The information about the Islington Wharf Residents Association / Committee has been drafted by SS and is now available on Slack for other Committee members input. ACTION: ALL

• Plants:

• Agreed to bring in the two companies suggested by SS to see what they have on offer and quote for provision and installation of suitable artificial plant replacement; IF the demo and quote are free of charge. SS to take the lead on this. ACTION: SS

• Parcel Collection:

• Revolution are still trialling the system that people must be registered with Revolution to access the parcel collection service. The committee request that a go live date be available at the next meeting as this is a long standing item. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Metal covers:

• Metal covers have been ordered to protect the doors as per last meeting item; also, upgraded doors for the bike and bin stores have been ordered and will be fitted on 9 March. A handle is required on the external side of the garage exit door so that people can use their fob to enter here when needed. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Out Of Hours Familiarity With Site:

• The Committee note that there seems to be a general lack of familiarity about the layout and idiosyncrasies of this site, ie Islington Wharf blocks A & B, when reporting faults and issues out of hours, such as boilers, (including re-set), lifts and locations, car park & door entry. This issue has been discussed in the past and the Committee think that a guide would be helpful to the out of hours service and would provide a more professional service to residents.
• As a general rule, the out of hours should know at least the following:

• There are two Blocks within Islington Wharf Phase 1.
• Both are accessed by sliding doors (photos available).
• Block A has one lift, Block B has two.
• Car park layout.
• Doors, and codes to which they can be opened.
• The nature of the hot water system and reset procedure.

• Revolution to advise if any further information is required on this item. ACTION: REVOLUTION

MATTERS DISCUSSED IN ISOLATION

• Latent Defects:

• Temperature logs have been installed in 2 apartments and corridors in order to gather data to better understand how the heat exchange units and corridor temperature is affecting apartment temperatures.

• Zurich Insurance:

• The unacceptable delay in a response from Zurich to the issues raised several months ago will be reported to the Financial Services Ombudsman. KH is leading on this. ACTION: KH

• Meeting With Lucy Powell:

• This went very well and the Committee thanked KH for leading this work; and the Committee is very grateful to have the ongoing support of Lucy Powell.

• Guardian Report:

• The Guardian newspaper has just published a damning article on the high percentage of faults in new builds, and the Committee think the reporter leading on this story will be very interested to hear of the plight of residents at Islington Wharf re: the latent defects and lack of a resolution 8 years in. KH will make contact with the Guardian and lead on this item. ACTION: KH

• Open Meeting:

•  All agreed that this should go ahead but in the foyer of Block B as this worked quite well last time. JI will draft an email for AP to send out to residents. Everyone to support this meeting if possible. ACTION: JI AND ALL

AOB:

• Committee Treasurer:

• KH has asked for the role of Committee Treasurer to be taken on by a different member of the Committee as this is not her skill set. WL agreed to take on this role. All agreed.

• Block B Commercial Unit

• now looks to be in a poor state of repair not least due to the flooding still covering the floor as well as the mould covering the temporary boarded walls. This is not the best way to present IW as a desirable place to live. Revolution need to take action to get this area cleaned up. JI to discuss with AP ahead of the next meeting. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Banksmen

• Are needed to ensure the safety of access and egress to the building site. ACTION: REVOLUTION

• Water & Heating Bills

• JN flagged an issue in that he has been charged with 2 separate hot water bills for the same period and notes that the kw/hr charge has increased substantially and also that the admin charge has reappeared on his bills. The admin charge was to be dropped by bringing the metering in-house. Revolution need to be notified as this is clearly an issue likely to affect many if not all other residents. JN to inform AP. ACTION: JN

• Information Items