Go Fund Me for family devastated by house fire

As many of you have most probably seen on the community Facebook page, a family on Heol Ty Draw lives have been upended by a devastating house fire. Luckily everyone got out ok but they have lost everything, just a week before Christmas. In a true community spirt a neighbour has kindly started a Go Fund Me page to raise funds to help the family in this difficult time. Please see the link below if you want to make a donation.

Fundraiser by Sarah Harris : Please help a family whose been devastated by a fire

Management Agreement

AGM Minutes - 21 November 2024

Date: 21 November 2024

Time and Venue: 6.30 pm at Academy Espresso Bar, The Pumphouse, Hood Road, Barry, CF62 5BE

Meeting called to order by: Charlotte Baillie - Chair

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In Attendance

Founder Members and Officers of the Association

Charlotte Baillie (CB) Chair

Alun Williams (AW) Co Chair

Amy Owens (AO) Treasurer

Lesley Novis (LN) Secretary

Guest Speakers

Stacey and Jack – Safer Vale Partnership

Councillor Bronwen Brooks - Deputy Leader of Vale of Glamorgan Council

Others in attendance

Residents and potential members of the new Barry Waterfront Residents Association and Councillor Mark Hooper and Nic Hodges from Baruc ward, Vale of Glamorgan Council

Apologies

Lis Burnett – Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council

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Agenda

• Welcome to the meeting

• Meet the Committee

• Benefits of being a member of the Residents Association

• Aims of the Association

• Talk from Safer Vale Partnership regarding issues of crime and antisocial behaviour and how to report them.

• A few words from Councillor Bronwen Brooks – Deputy Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council

• Launch of the Barry Waterfront Residents Association Website, including what you can find on the website, how to become a member and how money is, and will be spent.

• Question and Answer Session

• Closing thanks

Key Points of Discussion and matters arising

Welcome

CB - Chair of the residents association welcomed all those in attendance and outlined the agenda for the meeting and the aims of the Association. CB introduced the guest speakers, Stacey and Jack from Safer Vale and the Deputy Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council – Bronwen Brooks. CB reported that invitations to attend had been sent to the three developers of the Consortia, Barratts, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon and also to Remus Management, the estate managers, but that all had declined the invitation.

Statement from Remus - Remus, however, had provided a statement which was read to the meeting by AW. In an email from the Property Manager Nicola Smith, Remus stated that a list of defective work included damaged pavements, lighting columns, footpaths, drains, roads and weeding will be addressed in the coming weeks. They also advised that the stairs to Clive Road will be refurbished and that a budget for this work is to be set. Nicola Smith wishes to reset the relationship with the residents and to this end will set up an office on the estate. Remus have also committed to attend the next meeting and will be represented by both Kate Reynolds the Regional Director and Nicola Smith.

Introductions from committee members

AO, LN and AW introduced themselves to the meeting and gave their reasons for wishing to volunteer for the Association. CB thanked the Academy Espresso Bar for allowing us to use the room there for free. CB spoke of the Association’s wish to provide hybrid meetings, but of the difficulty of doing this with limited funds.

Benefits of being a member of the Residents Association

The benefits of a collective voice were outlined as one of the primary reasons for becoming a member of the new residents association, as were the benefits of a safe and secure environment. CB spoke of the wish for all to participate in a real community in which community values were championed.

Launch of new website - CB demonstrated the new website, which details our Constitution and Waterfront Map, Useful Contacts, an Events Page, and a Contact Us Page. It also provides details of businesses who will provide a discount for member residents. Importantly, there is also a Become a Member tab. CB gave the details of the membership fee as being £10 per person per annum and, for those who cannot afford this, a free membership. The Pay it Forward membership fee will allow members to pay an additional £10 per annum to provide for those who cannot. CB also played the welcome message embedded in our website from our MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, Kanishka Narayan.

CB encouraged all to become members, to share information about the association with neighbours and to attend meetings. Our MP has kindly offered to do a leaflet drop in a drive to encourage membership.

Safer Vale Partnership

AO introduced Jack and Stacey from the Safer Vale Partnership who outlined their work to prevent anti-social behaviour, hate crime, domestic abuse, problems with juveniles and also their links with the Neighbourhood and Business Watch Schemes. The contact details are shared on our website and Vale of Glamorgan residents can connect and receive updates from them on the Vale Connect Page.

The floor was opened to questions and a resident reported motorbikes doing wheelies and motorcyclists wearing no safety helmets. This was occurring on the estate and adjoining roads. Safer Vale reported that there is a new camera by the Harbour Road Car Park. The importance of reporting these incidents to the police was stressed as if the police are

unaware, they cannot act. Issues such as parking and the blocking of junctions were discussed. Councillor Mark Hooper advised that there would be yellow lines painted at the start of Ffordd y Dociau and that the new traffic lights would help with traffic flow.

Councillor Bronwen Brooks

Councillor Bronwen Brooks then spoke as a representative from the Vale of Glamorgan Council and said that she would feed back any issues raised to the Council. The councillor also stressed the importance of reporting crime to the police. CB raised the question of communication and stressed the importance of free-flowing information between the community and council which may be lacking at this point in time. The councillor said that the formation of the residents association would make this communication easier. AW will contact Lis Burnett, the council leader, to give her the association contact email.

Q & A

The floor was then opened to the Q & A section of the meeting.

The issue of fly tipping on the overflow carpark was raised by a resident who believes that this problem is not being sufficiently addressed. Mark Hooper spoke about the need to know about issues such as these and asked for help to investigate this by making the Baruc ward councillors aware when there are such concerns. He asked that we put the contact details of the Baruc Ward councillors on our website, as issues of the estate are the concern of the local councillors.

Councillor Hooper also raised the issue of the retail outlets on the estate and relayed the fact that there is no bin store, which is a major disincentive to restaurants buying or leasing these premises. He said he is working to get a bin store implemented.

The issue of toxic waste and contamination was discussed as the estate was built on a brownfield site. This was discussed both from a safety perspective and from the perspective of whether the residents would have to pay for any remediations. No further actions were discussed at the meeting, but it was recognized as an important subject that must be discussed further in the future as it may have a multi-million-pound impact on us as residents.

The issue of estate management was spoken about. Councillor Hooper asked whether residents were fully aware of estate management charges when they purchased their properties and whether they were also aware that late payment fees would be added by Remus Management. Residents raised the issue of a lack of accountability as no estate management accounts have been produced for a number of years. CB raised the issue of what happens to estate charges once the last property is sold and whether estate management charges would rise considerably. Mark Hooper stressed the importance of collective action in preventing this from occurring. A resident stressed the importance of identifying responsibility and it was suggested by Councillor Hooper that, as Planning is devolved in Wales, the responsibility lies with the Senedd and not with the UK Government.

Nic Hodges said that councils should adopt estates such as ours in the future. However, residents argued that it would not resolve our issues as prospective legislation could apply only to new estates.

CB then asked that residents decide whether the Remus issue is their number one concern and suggested that attendees write down what they consider to be their top five primary issues. AO to collate this information and report back. Councillor Bronwen Brooks suggested that we speak to other residents associations, such as that of White Farm in Barry in order to navigate our way through these issues.

Councillor Hooper suggested that we use the knowledge of people on our estate who have been fighting these same issues for years. To this end, Paul Motte, the Chair of BWCRA the first residents association, spoke about the relationship between the Consortium, Remus and us as residents.

Mr Motte explained that there are 5 key players or commercial interests in our estate. There are three developers who, when working together, are managed by Whiteheads the surveyors based in Bristol. Then there is a Barry Waterfront Management Company, this is the company responsible for managing the development. The directors of this company are all appointed by the developers, but there will come a point in time when they give up their directorships and the responsibility will pass to the members of the company. All residents should have received an invitation to become members of the company. The company is Limited by Guarantee and the responsibility of being a member is £1. When the directors of Barry Waterfront Management Company give up their management of the company, the responsibility will pass to those who have signed up to become members.

With regards to Remus, the developers appointed this company as the Managing Agent. Remus are answerable to the developers, but the developers are not interested in policing or managing Remus. Complaints about Remus should, therefore, be addressed to the developers. However, BCWRA had no engagement with the developers in respect of this. There is a management agreement between the Developers and Remus as the management company. It does exist but was not made available at the time of purchase of our properties.

The consortium will not remove Remus and the current estimate for control of this company is three years away, but realistically this could be up to five. The Residents Association is important to hold the any management company to account. In Mr Motte’s view we need to have a longer-term view of what we want the community to look like.

Meeting Close

CB called an end to the meeting and gave thanks to everyone present. AW called on all attendees to join the association.

Date of next meeting

The date of the next meeting was not fixed at this time but will be published on our website in the coming days.

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