Major works
UPDATE March-2014
LATEST NEWS ABOUT MAJOR WORKS EXTERNAL DECORATIONS
This Phase 1 project is now starting on Monday 31st March. The works are planned to last for 40 weeks. The blocks affected in this phase are Watford Close, Maskelyne Close, Rosenau Road and Ethelburga Street.
The works will require the erection of scaffolding across the affected blocks for at least some of the time that work is going on. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you advise your insurance company that this scaffolding is going up.
Please see below for a list of useful contacts for these works:
– Site Agent – Steve Roberts – 07971 619 309
– Resident Liaison Officer – Mark Rule – 07968 603 658
– Senior Resident Liaison (Part time) Officer – Christine O’Brien
– Contracts Manager – Shane Randall – 020 8365 1000
– Clerk of Works – Tom Ruddy – 020 8871 8483
– Project Controller – Vincent Houlihan – 020 8871 7853
– Estate Manager – Bola Oyabayo – 020 8871 7421
– Senior Estate Manager – John Thompson – 020 8871 8342
If you have concerns about anything going on that you think we as the Residents’ Association can help you with please email us at ethelburgacommunity@gmail.com. We will try to help as much as we can.
The ballot for choosing the new estate colours is now closed. The results of this will be published very shortly and the council will be advised of these results.
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Previous items on this matter
At the AGM, on Monday 12th December, 2011 we were able to provide an update on where matters stood with regard to Major Works.
There has been a slippage in time, which suggests the following timetable –
Myddleton House – scaffolding to be erected and work to begin – late spring / early summer 2013
Ethelburga – Phase-1 – residents’ consultation – no date yet fixed
– tenders out – around May 2013
– residents’ consultation – summer 2013
– scaffolding and work commences – autumn 2013
anticipated duration of work – 6 months
Phase-2 – this to be processed on an accelerated basis, so that work on phase-2 can
commence within a year from the commencement of Phase-1 work.
UPDATE February-2011
We outlined to a residents’ meeting earlier this year the proposals we have since submitted to Council.
The Council are continually at pain to emphasize that the Major Works programme is a “cyclical maintenance contract”, which “may not incur costs for the Council that are not deemed necessary, although they may be desirable in the long term” [last via e-mail 18 Feb 2011 13:16]. This definition allows little room for improvements and additions.
Because some residents have been under the impression that replacing the windows as part of the Major Works programme is simply a matter of taking out the old window and replacing it with a new one, we can now categorically state that this is not so. We tried. The material used to fix and seal the windows into the surrounding wall has gone rock-hard. The only way a window can be replaced is by taking out the entire front or rear wall in one piece and putting something else in its place. This is not only costly (as those in phase-1 found out, when their originally quoted Major Works cost shot up from (averages) £4,500 to £12,500), but also will cause considerable nuisance as a new wall in your bathroom / kitchen will be require internal redecoration.
The majority of the residents polled via a written questionnaire last year have voted that they do not want to replace their windows in the light of these costs and inconvenience. So replacing single-glazed Crittall windows with double-glazed Crittall or uPVC windows will not form part of the Major Works discussions we will be having with the Council.
We will be asking that repairs to windows and their servicing be included in Major Works.
There is also plenty of evidence that shows that the existing steel Crittall windows represent better value than any of the uPVC options traditionally installed on Council estate.
IMPORTANT REMINDER
While we will periodically bring news of how discussions around Major Works are progressing, we cannot and do not intend to agree anything final with the Council. There are very clear regulations in place that require the Council to consult with every resident and leaseholder over proposed works that ultimately have to be paid for by the leaseholders. Only after these consultations have been completed can the Council proceed.
Our role as Residents’ Association is to make sure that as the Council puts together specifications (which will go out to contractors for tender) these are as close to what we understand the majority of residents want. That is why we needed the feedback many of you provided last year. If you have any additional ones, please let us know.
But at the end of it, every resident will have a chance to make her or his view known during the consultation period the Council is obliged to offer and that we shall make sure you remain aware of.
