News from the association
Taking steps to reduce costs again
Once again our Vice-chairman, David Maunder, has saved us all money. Noticing that one of the stair-nosings in his block had come off he decided to fix it back on. OM were already in the process of sending out one of their contractors and were stopped in the nick of time. Unrepaired, the steps presented a tripping hazard and required urgent action.
Contractors have come out and repaired these fixtures before – twice in fact. On both occasions they charged £250! The residents’ association will not tolerate such poor value.
We would like to thank David for his efforts. It is generosity such as this which helps to keeps our service charge at a reasonable level.
Residents see the light
Over recent months lighting in the car park has been affected by tree-growth getting in the way of one of the lamp posts. Committee member Jack Pearson volunteered to tackle the problem and has now pruned the tree so that the light can shine through. Hundreds of pounds have been saved yet again thanks to the efforts of your residents’ association.
BPVRA achieves reduction in our service charge
As a result of continued efforts by the Residents’ Association Chairman Geoff Farmer, our overall service charge for next year (2012-13) will be less than that for the current year by about £1,100 – a saving of nearly 4%! This reduction has been achieved because the Residents’ Association has, through its influence with OM, produced a number of savings that are directly impacting on our expenditure. The main savings are in gardening, insurance and electricity.
The Residents’ Association is also very much aware of the need to plan for long-term and unexpected expenditure and, to this end, has looked very carefully at the contributions we are making to our reserve funds. It has been felt necessary to increase our payments into some reserves whilst reducing payments into others. This has been achieved whilst still enabling the overall saving; however, whilst the majority of owners will see a noticeable reduction in their service charge demands of around 5%, some owners will see a small increase.
One area that is still under discussion is OM’s management fee; OM has proposed to increase this by 4%. The Resident’s Association is not satisfied that OM can justify this increase. If we are successful in our negotiations the savings mentioned could be increased further.
Season’s greetings!
The Bicester Parkland View Residents’ Association would like to wish all members, owners and residents a merry Christmas and a happy new year. The association looks forward to another productive year. If you are not a member then make it your new year’s resolution to join us. If we can be of any assistance to you then please don’t hesitate to contact one of the committee members.
Garden spruce up
Work has been done to improve the appearance of the garden and borders around the development. Over a period of time failed shrubs have been removed by our gardeners and this had left a number of empty spaces. On Thursday, 1st December a number of new shrubs were planted in various locations. The gardeners also covered the border areas in bark mulch – improving the appearance of the ground. The Residents’ Association will be reviewing the progress made to see if further work is required.
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