MINUTES OF THE DARRAS HALL ESTATE COMMITTEE MONTHLY GENERAL MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, 29 FEBRUARY 2016 AT 19:00 HOURS IN THE ESTATE OFFICE Present: Mr A Mate (Chairman) Mrs C Thompson Mr A Gilchrist Mr R Toft Mrs S Hill Mr A Tucker Mr A Pile Mr M Welford Mr J Scott Mr G Wright 1. Apologies for Absence: Apologies for absence were received from Mr D Brown, Mr D Gambles and Mr S Hughes. 2. Minutes of Previous Meeting: The minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday, 1 February 2016 were signed as correct. 3. Matters Arising from Minutes of Previous Meeting: There were no matters arising. 4. Planning Applications: Please refer to Plans minutes. 5. Financial Report by Treasurer: The financial report was circulated for the Committee s perusal. Mrs Duffy informed the Committee that the pension scheme was now set up with employees contributing 1% of their salary and employers giving the equivalent. On 1 October 2017 there is a stipulation to increase the contribution, however it was pointed out that employees can pay more into their pension before that time, should they wish.
Mr Mate suggested that if the employees choose to increase their contributions that this is matched by their employers up to a maximum of 3%. The Committee agreed to this unanimously. 6. Letters Received: 6.1 35 Errington Road A letter of support had been received from a resident regarding the Committee s stance on 35 Errington Road and hoped that they continued to ensure that building work carried out is in accordance with Byelaws. Telephone calls of support have also been received in the office. The Committee were aware that in recent weeks, the garage had been demolished with no permission and, therefore, our solicitor, Mr Andrew Morgan had been instructed to try and organise a meeting with the Scott family in an attempt to seek a way forward that would suit neighbours and comply with Byelaws. This meeting was held on 24 February with Mr Mate, Mr Morgan, Mr and Mrs Scott and their legal representative. Following this meeting it was agreed that the Mr & Mrs Scott would submit an amended plan by Monday 29 February for the opinion of the Committee. Unfortunately the amended plan received was still not in compliance with Byelaws with very little modification from previous application. Mr Mate had shown the plan to the most affected neighbour who was not prepared to accept their proposals. The Committee were of the general consensus that the Byelaws and Trust Deed must be upheld or a precedent could be set that owners could do as they wish and the estate s unique character will be lost. The Committee were of a unanimous opinion that the new plan be rejected. It had been brought to the attention of the Committee that, despite reassurances at the 24 February meeting of no further building works taking place, this was not in fact the case and new foundations had been laid in the side space. A discussion ensued and it was decided that the Committee instruct Mr Morgan to issue legal documentation to Mr and Mrs Scott informing them that if building works do not cease, an injunction will be issued at Court. The Committee felt hopeful that following the issue of these papers, Mr and Mrs Scott would be willing to have another meeting when a suitable alternative plan could be drawn up.
6.2 83 Runnymede Road A meeting has been organised with Mr Lee s representative, Kevin Smith on 7 March 2016 at 10.30am. Mr Mate asked that any members of the Committee who were able to attend did so and it was agreed that a letter be sent to Mr Smith asking him to prepare an agenda in order that all points can be addressed at this meeting. Mr Gilchrist pointed out that based on the plot that was originally sold to Mr Lee and Dr McLeod s measurements, the site is definitely quarter of an acre. Mr Tucker also reminded the Committee that the current plans submitted, which have approval from Northumberland County Council, are in breach of our Byelaws and only the 1980 plans have approval from ourselves. 6.3 Ponteland Neighbourhood Plan Mr Mate informed the Committee that we can submit a new set of rules in the neighbourhood plan which could then become part of Northumberland County Council s planning criteria. Mr Tucker (representative on PNP) pointed out that a planning consultant would write the Byelaws into the Neighbourhood Plan and the options would then be submitted to NCC for approval. They cannot be adopted without a referendum having been carried out. It was felt that if they were to be adopted it would aid our planning decisions immensely with a degree of uniformity being afforded. It was agreed that Mr Mate would collate the main points from our Byelaws that we would ask to be included and these would be emailed to the Committee for their information. 7. Any Other Business: Sub-Committee Reports 7.1 Highways and Environmental No matters to report. 7.2 Airport Representative No matters to report.
7.3 Land & Property 7.3.1 Estate Car Park A concerned resident had emailed the Committee with regards to horrendous parking in our car park. This was largely due to the fact that the bays are not visible as the red bricks are so soiled. Mr Mate has asked our maintenance contractor to try and clean them as soon as possible to see if this helps. 7.3.2 Dog Bin The Crescent Following a complaint from a resident about the amount of dog waste bags that are being dumped at the end of The Crescent, it was suggested by Mr Mate that the Committee install a new waste bin. This was agreed and will be installed as soon as possible. 7.3.3 Tender for Maintenance Contract Mr Pile informed the Committee that tenders need to be submitted for our maintenance contract which runs out on 31 March 2016. It was suggested that we should approach at least 3 contractors and the agreement be on a 12 monthly basis instead of the current 3 year term. 7.4 Buying a House on Darras Hall? Mr Gilchrist mentioned that he was in the process of writing a short article for inclusion on the website regarding buying a property on the estate. He felt that this would assist potential buyers from purchasing the incorrect house to suit their needs and we could network the article across our website linking to the Byelaws etc. The Committee felt that this was a good idea. 8. Date & Time of Next Meeting: Monday, 4 April 2016 at 19:00 hours in the Estate Office. Meeting Closed: 21.30 hours.