Category: Upkeep of the estate

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.

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.

Streetlights

Westmeath Co. Co. has been notified about the streetlight outside houses 207-208 that needs a bulb replacement. Airtricity has recently taken over the public lighting maintenance contract from ESB and there is a delay in getting these fixed at the moment throughout the county. Unfortunately, the darkness can attract opportunistic illegal dumpers. Please do report any such rubbish dumping to Westmeath County Council (more information) to help keep our estate tidy.

Update (24/02/10): Westmeath Co. Council has informed us that Airtricity has carried out the repair.

Littering and signage

Unfortunately, there has been an increase in the number of cases of illegal dumping in Ashefield recently. If you spot someone leaving rubbish bags or other litter in the estate, please contact Westmeath County Council’s litter control and report it either by email to environment@westmeathcoco.ie or using the low cost number 1890 320 005 . Don’t assume someone else will. It’s not fair on the local residents who do spend the time and money on clearing up after the illegal dumpers.

From Westmeath County Council: The emails will be checked daily by environment staff and all reports will be investigated. Alternatively incidences of littering/llegal dumping can be reported to Lo-call 1890 320 005   It is hoped that members of the public will be prepared to give evidence which will lead to conviction in the courts.

The road numbering signs have also been vandalised recently. Thanks to another local resident, repairs are being made.  If you spot any vandalism or other anti-social behavour, please do inform Mullingar Gardaí at 044 934 8915. Sometimes all it takes is the presence of  a Garda car to deter the vandals.

Short back and sides

Some time back we asked Westmeath County Council about trimming trees near street lights in the estate. This was in response to safety concerns raised by some residents where Summer foliage was blocking the light. The problem was most apparent in the vicinity of houses #190-210.

After contacting them again last week, Council staff carried out this work almost immediately afterwards. Thanks again for your prompt action!

I’m sure you’ll agree that the trimmed trees are looking a lot better now:
Ashefield

Keeping drains clear and streetlamps lit

Westmeath Co. Co. was notified about a blocked gulley outside #130 and a non-functioning street light beside the pedestrian walkway into Abbeylands.  Regarding the gulley, the request was passed on to the  General Services Supervisor to have it unblocked as soon as possible.  As for the streetlight, Westmeath Co. Co. notified the ESB to carry out the necessary repairs. Hopefully both issues will be resolved shortly.

streetlamp

If you notice any problems regarding blocked gulleys, broken streetlights, or some other issue that needs council attention, the easiest thing to do is to send an email to:

mullingararea [at] westmeathcoco.ie (replace ‘[at]’ with @)

It only takes a couple of minutes and you should get a response within a day or so.

Make sure to include the nearest house number(s) to help them locate the problem area.  For streetlight problems, each light has a number located on the pole about 10ft off the ground and it’s useful to include this number too.

Contributing to the upkeep of the estate

Over the last few weeks, contributions for the voluntary upkeep of the estate by the residents are being collected from houses towards the end of the estate.  The bulk of the contributions goes towards the maintenance of the four green areas. However these contributions also help with buying petrol, weedkiller, bin bags & tags, and replacement capstones for public boundary walls where they are missing. We are planning a clean-up afternoon for the near future where all these items will be put to good use.

Sincere thanks to all those who have contributed so far.  For those unable to contribute the yearly contribution of €30, all amounts and multiple installments are most appreciated. In addition to monetary contributions, offers to lend a hand and borrow tools are just as important.

Please do say Hi to two of your neighbours, Martin and Keith who will be dropping by. They are also collecting email addresses to help keep everyone updated too.  Bearing in mind that not everyone has the same block of spare time to help with this, a quick email may be a faster way to assemble a cleanup team willing to help at possibly short notice.