Newsletter Spring 2015

New Estate Website now available March 2015

We have a new web site which will assist solicitors making enquiries about the estate for prospective clients wanting details of the estate and its management. Residents are always making requests for information from the committee and the different chapters within the web site will hopefully enlighten our shareholders of the correct information.

The web site will continually be updated and added to so we hope you will find it useful. www.granvillecliffeestate.co.uk.

Estate Roads and Edges

As you will have noticed the roads are continually being damaged by various delivery vehicles, council waste collections, contractors’ vehicles, sightseers and the weather.

The 2013/2014 winter was the wettest since records began at the met Office in 1910. It was also the worst for a number of years with the frost, ice and snow causing general damage to the sub base and the small potholes to enlarge.

The present winter that we are emerging from has also been very wet but at the time of writing these notes (Feb 2015) not so much in the way of snow and ice.
Inconsiderate parking by some residents has resulted in vehicles needing to run onto the grassed verges to pass the parked vehicle(s) causing damage and rutting to the verge. The roads have a speed limit and a weight limit to reduce damage but both are regularly broken or ignored. During August 2014 we redressed Allan, Hodgson and Bowyer Roads.

Last autumn we decided to obtain quotations from four contractors for redressing Preston Parade and St. Marys Grove together with other minor repairs. We went to Moons, our original roads contractors (apparently they have now ceased trading), James Smith, our recent contractor, and two others. One failed to quote at all and the fourth quote, whilst appearing slightly cheaper, did not allow for the patch repairs required prior to resurfacing or the drainage works we required to reduce the flooding and ponding to some areas.

Further negotiations with James Smith and following sight of his current Liability Insurance we were able to settle on the sum of £17,000.00 as at 30th November 2014.

We had hoped that the road dressing would be completed before the snow and ice came but instead we were hit with much more rain preventing completion in one go. Currently approximately 50% of Preston Parade has been completed. At the time of writing, we are hoping that the weather has enough dry spells to allow the road surfaces to dry and enable Smiths to complete the work.

We thank you for enduring the inconvenience and short periods of road closures the work causes but trust that the end results will prove beneficial.
For the future we hope to set out a schedule of works required and try to keep one step ahead of any inclement weather. So, like the Council we intend to have an area on the new Estate website that residents can go into and report any problems we may have missed.

Another of our projects is to plant up some of the wider areas of the verges with flowering shrubs. As well as looking good this may also act as an inconsiderate parking deterrent.

Company Share Certificates.

Our accountants have advised us that there are a number of share transfers that have not taken place on the sale of properties and they cannot change the Annual Return to Companies House with the name of the new owner until they receive signed Stock Transfer Forms as they are not legally shareholders. The accountants are warning that residents not having a share in their name will have trouble when they come to sell their property. If a share was in joint names and one of the named is now deceased the share certificate should be amended to a sole name.

The Share not only gives a right to vote but also provides a right of access over Company roads and land so it is important.

We can assist residents and advise on the action they should take to correct the share certificate or to obtain lost certificates. For more information contact us at the postal address; PO box 145 Whitstable CT5 4GW or by e-mail. Use our contact page to find out more.

2015 ANNUAL SERVICE CHARGE

INVOICES ARRIVING SOON
The annual charge is held at £100.00 per property and this service charge covers the road maintenance, insurance cover and legal fees.
Less than £2 per week, a pint of beer or glass of wine, it offers excellent value.

Please note that from the 2014 invoices any unpaid annual charges will incur an Administration Fee of £20 per year.
Should you choose to pay in installments this will incur an Administration Fee of £5.00 making your total annual fee £105.00.
The Treasurer and Estates Committee

Scam postcards are being delivered to UK residents’ homes claiming that a parcel containing “jewellery” is waiting for the homeowner.

The personally addressed postcards say “The office is attempting to reach you. To claim this parcel and accept this offer, you must telephone the number below immediately and arrange for a delivery. The item is prepaid, but a processing and delivery free of £10 must be remitted. This fee can be paid only by telephone and only with a credit card (VISA or MasterCard). This is your only notification.”

If you call the 020 number you are asked to pay £10 by credit card. Victims who have reported this to Action Fraud have said that the automated service told them the package would be delivered the same day, but did not receive anything. Action Fraud has received several reports of this recently occurring fraud and this information has been assessed by National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) resulting in disruption of the fraudster’s phone number. Also be on the lookout for slight variations of this scam – which use different phone numbers and delivery items.

Protection and reporting advice

If you receive one these postcards: Do not call the number provided. Do not give your card details. If you receive a delivery card through your letterbox which you do not believe is genuine and which asks you to dial a premium rate number, you can contact PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 (Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm) for further guidance.
If you receive one of these delivery cards, do not pay any money and report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or by using the online reporting tool. You should also report this to Kent Trading Standards via www.kent.gov.uk.

Winter Weather Websites

Do you recall the ‘fixmystreet.com’ website that we told you about to report the consequential potholes? Well, the founders of that site, My Society, have now launched another user friendly site, called ‘fixmytransport.com’ to report problems with any kind of public transport. The site covers the whole of Great Britain, with over 300,000 bus and train stops, stations and routes represented. Entries on the website are reported directly to the transport operators. The site provides various tools to help you get problems resolved even if the operator is not immediately responsive. This latest edition is the sixth public service to be available on the ‘My Society’ website. In addition to the two listed above there is also one to track the work that your MP does; one to serve a request under the Freedom of Information Act; one to identify and write to your local Councillor, MP or MEP, and yet another to request email updates from your MP on discussion issues. You can access all of these services from the My Society webpage at: http://www.mysociety.org/projects/

Outside key safes

Police have warned householders to review use of external key-safes following interest in them by thieves in the Ashford area over recent months. Several were reported to have been attacked recently, leading to at least one incident of burglary. These devices are normally used by or for vulnerable persons to allow carers entry into their homes, but increasingly it seems some people rely on them to store keys in case of being locked out. Police advise that products used to store keys should be accredited to a recognised standard, such as ‘Secured by Design’ or the Loss Prevention Certification Board. They must always be fitted in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.

Pension Advice

HMRC have advised that from April 2015, people over the age of 55 will be given the flexibility of taking a number of smaller lump sum pension pots. 25% of the sum will be tax-free, with the remaining pension fund charged at marginal rate of income tax. If you take out money from your pension fund before the age of 55, the normal tax rules apply. We are concerned that fraudsters will take advantage of these rule changes by offering to invest pensions on the victim’s behalf. Be very wary of such offers. Avoid losing your hard-earned cash: Do not invest with companies which cold call you, offering extremely high returns. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Seek financial advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau, who work alongside the Treasury delivering the ‘Pension Wise’ service. Further information can be found here. (this website link works if you received this newsletter via email)

If you wish to invest your savings in a company, please ensure you seek advice from an FCA registered and authorised advisor Be aware of callers offering a free pension review service by phone call, email and text message and do not invest in unregulated markets such as overseas property developments, storage units or forestry.

Streetlife

What is ‘streetlife’?

About Streetlife: it is a British social network for local communities. They appear to have a simple aim: to help people make the most of where they live by connecting with their neighbours and sharing practical information, advice and resources.

How did the idea for Streetlife come about?

One of our founders was burgled on the night he moved into a new home in Battersea, London. He wanted to get in touch with his neighbours but didn’t have their contact details and felt awkward about knocking on doors.
He realised there was a need for a simple way to connect with his local community and exchange practical information and advice, and so the idea of Streetlife was born.

What happened next?

They launched a pilot version of Streetlife three years ago, initially only in the London Borough of Wandsworth.

Where is Streetlife available?

You can sign up anywhere in Great Britain, but our longest established communities are in Greater London, Anglia, South East England and North Somerset.
They are now rolling out Streetlife on a county-by-county basis, so new communities are coming to life every week.

Who uses Streetlife?

Streetlife is a place for every member of the community – residents, groups, local authorities and businesses – to discover and discuss local issues and initiatives.
Users are male and female, and the majority are aged from 30 to 80. Many Streetlife users don’t use other social media, so the site is as simple as possible to enable people who are less confident with digital technology to participate.
As with any community, they have very active users who contribute daily, and those who dip in occasionally to be kept in the loop about what’s going on, or ask a question when they want to tap into the wealth of local knowledge.
The one thing all Streetlife users have in common is that they care about their local area, and want to build a better connected community.
Check this out, it costs nothing. https://www.streetlife.com