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ETRA meeting July 2021

July 14, 2021 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

This ‘Enhanced Tenants & Residents Association’ (ETRA) ‘meeting is a chance for residents to speak to Hackney representatives about issues on the estate e.g. cleaning, repairs, antisocial behaviour.

ETRA meetings happen on a quarterly basis in January, April, July & October

Minutes

Chair of the meeting: Emley Pine, Chair of the TRA & Minutes taken by Emilie Leclerc

Attended by 9 residents plus:

In attendance: Bernard Thomas (BT) Estate Cleaning
  John Morris Consultant at Source Partnership/ Independent Resident Advisor
  William Owen Project Officer Regeneration (Hackney)
  Clare Potter Councillor Brownswood Ward
  Annette Reid (AR) Housing Officer for Kings Crescent Estate (Hackney)
  Donna Bryce Head of Resident Safety and Interim Head of New Build
Apologies: Bianca Rembrandt, Community Safety and Principal Enforcement Officer Deborah Noel, ASB Manager for the North of Hackney
  Bronwen Thomas, Project Officer Regeneration Lynn Humphrey from Digital Skills Team
  Agenda Item Action and Owner
1 Welcome, Introductions & Apologies  
   Sarah H proposes to approve the minutes from the last ETRA in April 2021, Alice H seconds. (Confirmed via WhatsApp post meeting)  
2 Update on Kings Crescent South & Wider Estate  
  Annette gives the following updates:

 

Blocks in ‘Kings Crescent South’: Bramfield, Theobalds, Datchworth & Weston Courts plus Annette to report on general estate management

·        Clarification on estate management – Kings Crescent is split into two sides. The newer blocks were handed from the new build team over to “business as usual” on 20 December(?) 2019. Annette is part of “business as usual” and she does pretty much anything. Regardless of your tenure, you can email neighbourhood@hackney.gov.uk and Annette’s team will filter the request and get the answer from the relevant department.

·        Ants in Bramfield/Theobalds – A survey was done; Annette will chase the environmental services to know what was the outcome.

·        Hackney Digital skills update – Lynn gave her apologies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AR to chase environmental services and update the residents about the outcome of the ants survey

3 Service Charges  
  Phil McKee gives a summary of the recent Service Charges meeting with Judith Morrison (Head of Leasehold & Right to Buy Services):

Residents prepared 10 questions for Judith who kindly prepared and answered these questions.

Residents asked why there was such a large increase in electricity for some buildings. Judith agreed to look into it.

Questions were also raised about why about 50 residents have been overcharged for their electricity. Judith also agreed to ask the questions to the energy team. Residents raised the issue of people being charged the wrong amount for the service charges and Judith explained that since the cyber-attack services charges were being calculated and managed manually with Excel spreadsheet which was shocking for many residents.

Another point was that many lines from our service charges do not actually happen such as gardening or estate management. Judith explained that even if those items were in the estimates, they should not be charged in the actuals if the service had not been delivered.

 

 
4 Update on Kings Crescent North  
  Blocks in ‘Kings Crescent North’: Lemsford, Sandon, Kimpton, Wallington, Radwell, Therfield, Barley, Chipping, Redbourn, Kelshall, Ardeley, Rushden, Widford (these are all the blocks that were built and refurbished in phases 1&2 of Kings Crescent regeneration)

 

William gives the following updates:

·        Update on list of all defects handed over from Higgins to LBH – No update

·        Update with ongoing issues:

o   Broken doors & reason for yellow railing instalment – These were installed to deal with the overreaching of the doors. They will be removed this week and hinges changed to stop the overreaching. Handles are also being replaced.

o   Slippery patches of courtyard – No update

o   CCTV for bike stores – This has been installed.

o   Reason for lifts breaking/no signal in lifts/alarm buttons working now? – The emergency lines are working in the lifts. The lift specialist concluded that the other issues came from overheating; Higgins have agreed to install ventilation to all lifts. A new contractor (APEX) is now in charge of managing the lifts. Hackney hopes APEX is more competent than the previous contractor.

o   Cracks in windows – All windows defect needs to be reported to the repair team. Hackney needs evidence of repetition of the defects to get it resolved.

o   Ventilation system issues – People should report issues with their Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) units to the repair team so they can build a register of issues and decide if this is a defect or not. Though it was noted that leaseholders would be expected to pay for service or repairs themselves, unless there was a proven defect.

o   Play street signs – Bronwen is working to get signs designed which would aesthetically go well with the estate.

o   Bollards – The retractable bollards will be replaced when a good replacement is found.

o   Playing logs – the wooden logs will be replaced by rubber logs.

·        Allotment Courtyard – noise, damage to allotments and walls, consultation regarding redesign of ‘fruit maze’ area  – EP is proposing to remove the structures and have a grassed area instead. Annette asks what other residents think. Others are worried that a grassed area may turn into a football pitch. Annette explains that 139 residents would need to be consulted and that a majority would need to agree to the proposal for anything to happen. Fund could possibly come from next year’s fund for estate improvement, but Annette needs to check if this is possible.

o   It was noted that the noise is a significant inconvenience for some residents.

o   The benefit of space for the children to play outside was noted as well as the challenges of an outdoor space which works for all. Though it was highlighted that the noise disturbance was often from balls games & loud screaming/shouting rather than just from play activities.

 

Donna explains that she is working on coordinating an action plan to deal with all issues raised by residents which have not being solved yet. She has done this for a different estate before and it worked well.

 

Update from Bernard from the cleaning team.

The cleaners are in charge of cleaning the windows they can reach. Residents from Theobald and Bramfield courts explain that no windows have ever been cleaned in the last 10 years. Bernard will visit all blocks to see if this is true.

Hoovering is taking place as it should. If residents have issues with the cleaning, they can contact Bernard by emailing cleaner.estates@hackney.gov.uk or by phoning 0208 356 2121.

If an issue does not get resolved, Bernard accepts to be emailed directly at: bernard.thomas@hackney.gov.uk

 

Annette explains how to report repairs:

On 0208 356 3691

or by email to repairsrcc@hackney.gov.uk

or via our chat facility https://hackney.gov.uk/repairs available Monday to Friday 9am to 4.30pm

 

A query was raised as to whether this contradicted the statement at the start of the meeting that all issues could be raised with Annette. Annette clarified that residents could cc her into emails when contacting other departments and she will then be able to help chase & also re-direct emails if needed.

 

Annette explains how to report illegal parking:

Email parking.enforcement@hackney.gov.uk or if your enquiry is urgent, e.g. someone is blocking your driveway, you can request parking enforcement by calling:

Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm: 020 8356 8877 / 5pm to 8:45pm: 020 8356 7555 Saturday, 7.30am to 8.30pm: 020 8356 7555

Sunday, 8.15am to 4.30pm: 020 8356 7555

Or online at  https://hackney.gov.uk/request-parking-enforcement

 

Annette is aware that the recycling bin doors outside Therfield Court on Sim Street are broken. She has reported this to Hackney’s repairs department.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AR to help the TRA with the consultation process

 

 

 

 

 

 

BT to visit all blocks to see if windows are getting cleaned

 

 

DB to share action plan

5 Heating costs in Newer Blocks  
  ·        Competitive?

·        Update on broken meters overcharging residents.

·        Heat Trust enrolment?

Donna gives the following update:

A meeting will be organised with the different energy teams, the IT services and possibly a third-party specialist before the end of next week to come up with a solution.

While the Committee noted the positive steps, it was highlighted that this was first raised at TRA meetings with Hackney over two years ago (as noted in the minutes from those meetings) and so the speed of a response on this issue is not acceptable.

 
6 Update from Source Partnership  
  Update from John:

The Vince Murrain community hall has been opened on Wednesday and Friday afternoons but not many people have visited.

Events may start again towards the end of July.

Two contractors are still tendering for the next phase of works on the estate and the successful tenderer should be revealed in September. Start on site will not start before March next year.

Site visits are being organised to the tendering contractors’ live building sites for residents to see what those contractors are like.

In terms of section 20 notices, they will be shared in August. Those notices will give a better estimate of the likely cost of the works for the individual flat.

A number of residents have raised the questions of the council buying their flat so they can avoid paying for these works. The council has a limited budget for this. It is possible to apply for that. The council’s budget for this year has already been allocated but it includes four or five of the affected leaseholders. Simon Theobald (simon.theobald@hackney.gov.uk) is the head of housing and finance who can organise for a valuer to go and visit flats.

 

 
7 Any other business?

JWM asks about the storage available on the estate and how to apply for it.

AR confirms there is storage available.

SH highlights that she spotted young people playing in the out of bounds area where the previous allotments are.

EP and DB explains that fibre broadband is in the process of being installed on the estate, for more details visit: https://kingscrescent.org/2021/07/10/message-regarding-community-fibre-installation/

 

 
8 Dates of next meetings & close

Street Party – 14 August 2021 – Volunteers are required

Community Party – 11 September 2021

Community Meeting (AGM with elections of TRA members) – 15 September 2021

ETRA – 12 October 2021

 

 

Previous Information:

Agenda

On Zoom only due to Covid-19 restrictions

The zoom link for this meeting will be emailed to all who request it (email kingscrescentn4@gmail.com)

  Agenda Item Suggested

Timing

 

Lead
1 Welcome, Introductions & Apologies 5 mins Emley (TRA Chair)
  ·        Approval of minutes from last ETRA meeting (April 2021)

 

2 Update on Kings Crescent South & Wider Estate
  Blocks: Bramfield, Theobalds, Datchworth, Weston Court and general estate management

·        Clarification on estate management

·        Update on action points from last meeting

·        Play Street – 3 no entry signs – update on installation.

·        Ants in Bramfield/Theobalds

·        Hackney Digital skills update

 

(Other Hackney departments may also be represented here)

20 mins Annette Reid Housing Officer

 

3 Service Charges  
  ·        Summary of recent Service Charges meeting with Judith Morrison (Head of Leasehold & Right to Buy Services)

 

10 mins Phil McGee

(resident)

4 Update on Kings Crescent North
  Blocks: Lemsford, Sandon, Kimpton, Wallington, Radwell, Therfield, Barley, Chipping, Redbourn, Kelshall, Ardeley, Rushden, Widford

·        Update on list of all defects handed over from Higgins to LBH

·        Update with ongoing issues:

o   Broken doors & reason for yellow railing instalment

o   Slippery patches of courtyard

o   CCTV for bike stores

o   Reason for lifts breaking/no signal in lifts/alarm buttons working now?

o   Cracks in windows

o   Ventilation system issues

·        Allotment Courtyard – noise, damage to allotments and walls, consultation regarding redesign of ‘fruit maze’ area

 

30 mins Will Owen  Project Officer Regeneration (Hackney)

Donna Bryce New Build Team

5 Heating costs in Newer Blocks  
  ·        Competitive?

·        Update on broken meters overcharging residents.

·        Heat Trust enrolment?

10 mins Energy team Or Hackney Representative
6 Update from Source Partnership
  ·        Update from John/Carol 5 mins Source Partnership
7 Any other business?

 

5mins Emley (TRA Chair)
8 Dates of next meetings & close

 

5 mins Emley (TRA Chair)

 

**Please note that this meeting will only deal with estate related issues**

We will have another community focused resident meeting in September 2021 to discuss plans and ideas for events and activities etc. This will also be our AGM and we will be electing the new committee. We are looking for new committee members!

Feel free to email kingscrescentn4@gmail.com  with any ideas or suggestions for community building or to find out more about how to get involved!

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Details

Date:
July 14, 2021
Time:
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Event Category:
Event Tags:
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Venue

Online

Organiser

KC TRA Committee
Phone
07926568497
Email
kingscrescentn4@gmail.com
View Organiser Website