Category: Residents association

Ashefield Residents Association AGM 2011

The next Ashefield residents’ association meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 7, 2011 from 8pm in the Newbury Hotel, Mullingar.

Every resident is invited to attend,  contribute ideas,  highlight problems,  and have an important say in the management of the estate.  The committee comprises ordinary residents from the estate who volunteer their time and expertise for free.  If you might be considering getting more involved, this would be an ideal opportunity to do so.

The draft agenda is as follows.

  1. Introduction
  2. Why do we need a Residents Association
  3. Responsibilities of each resident
  4. Annual contribution for upkeep of green areas
  5. Tenants/Landlords Responsibilities
  6. Apartment Block
  7. Laneways
  8. Deterring street games and ensuring safety
  9. Ashefield Website
  10. Financial Statement for 2010
  11. Election of new committee
  12. Any other business

More items for the agenda are encouraged. Feel free to use the comments area below or send an email to info@165.227.235.101.

Children playing ball games in the street

A report was received that local children using a wall close to houses near the front of the estate for football have damaged a house window and regularly hit cars with the balls also .  Despite different groups  having been asked on numerous occasions by local residents to use one of the green areas instead, they refuse to.

In one recent case, a resident witnessed a ball cracking the front window of a house and setting off the alarm. 

One solution is to ask parents to encourage their children not to play in the middle of the street and to use the green areas for ball games instead (and under supervision for safety purposes).  In addition to the potential for further damage to property, there exists a real danger  of an incident involving a moving car given that is the busiest point of the estate in terms of traffic.  This problem has been noted for a future residents’ association meeting.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions, please use the comments area below. In an effort to combat spam and hoax comments, comments may not appear immediately but will appear when approved by a moderator.

Holes in the walls of planning conditions

It’s difficult not to notice that the wall between the estate main entrance road and apartments is deteriorating.  This wall runs between the block of apartments and main estate along the main estate entrance road.  However, due to its location, it has been unclear who is responsible for the upkeep of this wall.

Members of Ashefield’s residents’ committee contacted Westmeath County Council about this.  The main aims here were to clarify who is responsible for the maintenance of this wall and to try and get the problems fixed.  The key questions raised, and responses received from the council are:

Q. For some time now, we have been observing the slow but seemingly inexorable descent into decrepitude of the low boundary wall between the apartments and the estate proper. There doesn’t seem to be anyone taking responsibility for the condition of this wall.

A. The boundary walls of an Estate become the responsibility of the residents once an Estate has been Taken in Charge and are the responsibility of the residents/Management company (whichever is applicable) of any apartments from the date of first occupancy/formation of Management Company. (Reference Westmeath County Council’s “Guidelines for Purchasers in Residential Developments” Policy)


Q. The original planning permission (97/655) had a condition (#30) that a management company was to be established to look after the maintenance of the apartments and common areas. This led to the registration of a company called Minkridge Management Company Limited in March/April 2001. Looking up this company on www.cro.ie I find that its status is recorded as “dissolved” with an effective date of June 2002. It seems clear that this company was never intended to actually perform the maintenance role and was a mere artifice in the successful attempt by Fernside Homes Ltd. to gain planning permission.

A. Condition 30 of Planning Reference 97/655 has been complied with by the Developer in 2001 in that the Management Company was set up for the maintenance of the apartments

Q. Are there separate planning references (presumably with attached conditions) for the different phases of the scheme’s development?

A. The only main Planning Reference for this Development appears to be Ref. 97/655, however you can come into our offices and request a Planning Search and ask to view the Planning Files.

Q. The planning reference only seems to cover Apts. 10-26 (there is no Apt. #13). There is an additional block of apartments (27-30) for which I don’t have a separate planning reference. Is there a separate planning permission for #27-30? Are there any conditions related to a management company?

A. I am not aware of a separate Planning Reference for apartments 27-30, however, you can view Planning File Ref. 97/655 in this regard.
Q. It is my understanding that the council endeavors to ensure that all conditions on planning permissions are satisfied prior to taking an estate in charge. I gather that the council doesn’t take apartment developments in charge, but can your enforcement section offer any input here? It would seem like the lack of a management company would have been evident when the council took the estate in charge?
A. At the time that the Estate was being Taken in Charge, the Apartments would not have been taken into consideration as they were not being Taken in Charge.


A note to Ashefield residents

Folks, you should all have received the note below from the residents association by now, or over the next couple of days. If you’ve found ashefield.com from that note, welcome! – hope you find this site useful. Contact the site at info [at] ashefield.com if you have any news, photos of the area, or would like to add your service details if you’re a resident.

It is lovely to see the end of the cold weather and nice that the bright evenings are kicking in. With Spring in the air, we would like to remind residents that the grass cutting season will soon be here.

As you may know, since the county council took over our estate some years ago from the developer, Billy Connolly, it is now the responsibility of us, the residents, to look after the common areas within the estate.

To enable and assist in the maintenance and general upkeep of these areas, the residents association is once again asking for a contribution of €30 from each household towards these costs.

Collectors will call shortly to all houses in Ashefield and it would be appreciated if residents in a position to contribute would kindly do so.

Tenants are requested to pass this information on to their landlords.

National Tree Week

It’s National Tree Week and Margaret has informed us that the residents association has received some young trees ready for planting and free of charge from Belvedere House and Gardens. The planting is planned to take place this weekend and volunteers would be greatly appreciated. A landscape gardener will be on hand to guide us.

A specific time and meet-up location will be confirmed soon. If you have a spare hour, why not email us or leave a comment below if you could give us a hand.

Minutes of the residents association AGM

Ashefield’s resident association’s annual general meeting took place in the Newbury Hotel on Thursday July 2nd, 2009.  Cllr. Robert Troy was also in attendance. Below are the minutes:

  1. Mowing – new contractor engaged; €120/cut for 4 greens; season bill ~= €1600. Some debate re responsibility for the large green area alongside C-link road. (R. Troy/E. Flynn to investigate ownership).
  2. Verges  – maintenance is responsibility of individual householders/residents
  3. Trees – vandalised trees replaced by residents association; maintenance of trees done by council. Responsibility for removal of felled trees along C-link to be determined [see a) above]
  4. General maintenance – some capstones missing around the estate – (1 pillar/1 wall at apartments; 1 pillar at ESB substation; others?). If finances allow, the residents association will source volunteers/contractors to replace same.
  5. Litter & Bin collection – overfilled bins are a litter hazard. If the bin lid can’t be closed, there’s scope for rubbish being blown around.
  6. Dogs – increase in # of dogs running about unsupervised – some of which are on special restrictions list. Dog fouling not being addressed by owners.
  7. ASB – level of anti-social behaviour seems to have abated. It’s important people keep on top of it and report it where witnessed.
  8. Empty/rented houses – high level of rentals in the estate (25% registered with PRTB; probably half as many again not registered)
  9. Contributions – low level of contributions from 120-210; need to pitch relevance of RA to these areas differently. Yvonne, Chris, Martin and Keith to act as area reps.
  10. Finances – state of finances as at Dec. 08 published
  11. Election of Officers – Chairman: Eddie Flynn; Secretary: Tom Brophy; Treasurer: Conor Loftus. [Committee members remained unchanged at this meeting]