There is no need to suffer from unaccetable noise

People have been emailing CIRG about unacceptable noise again. As residents of City Island, we all live in apartments, and I think we should expect the occasional bit of noise when our neighbours have guests, and are enjoying living in their apartment, and I think we should all be tolerant of this. However, when noise becomes frequent, unacceptable and a problem, there are processes in place to deal with it.

1. In the first instance if it is during Tony’s the concierge’s core hours (9am – 5pm), contact him, who knows all the procedures for dealing with noise problems.

2. Also contact the council on 0845 124 0113 during weekdays, or email env.health@leeds.gov.uk. If the disturbance is during the night or a weekend, ring them on 0113 240 7361. The people who respond to these numbers legally have power of seizure, so if the noise continues after their first visit and they are called out again, they can take the offending stereo equipment away with them.

3. Also, from our meetings with the Police at Milgarth, we have been told that they only require minimal evidence to enforce an ASBO, and if there is more than one person complaining about the one offender, this is more than enough evidence. Contact the Police at Milgarth Police station on 0113 241 3056 and ask for the anti-social behaviour officer.

4. Inform the management company as well on 01274-534-920 so that they are also aware.

5. Finally, whoever you contact also report the incidents to the concierge, as all incidents are logged by Tony and leaseholders are informed that they, or their tenants are in breach of their lease.

if you are suffering music or Karaoke at 4 o’clock in the morning, use the above procedures to do something about it. If you are playing music or Karaoke at 4 o’clock in the morning – watch out for your Karaoke machine and stereo being seized and an ASBO heading your way.

There is no need to suffer noise – use these services.

The Pedestrian Foot Bridge Will Be Built...

Since CIRG started we have always received emails, and continue to do so, about the bridge or lack thereof. Speculation has always been rife in the lack of any firm information, and, myself included, reported opinions based on hearsay and rumour.

We have received several more emails lately, all suspecting and speculating different things about the situation with the bridge, including the fear that City Island Residents Group via Sue’s good work on the Wellington Place development may somehow be blocking it’s construction. As you all know, we, and everyone of our members, want the bridge to be completed.

However, I contacted the council, alarmed that they may think that CIRG oppose the bridge, and have now received a response from Paul Kendall, the responsible Planning Officer, stating quite explicitly, that “the bridge already has [planning] permission and is a stated objective of the Statutory Development Plan”.

This is as CIRG group have reported for a while, and we can now state once and for all – the bridge will definitely be built, but we just don’t know when. I hope this clears matters up for people who were fearing the worst.

The detailed response is copied below if you want to read it, which refers to a conversation he has had with one of our residents resulting in some confusion, and also the confusion I introduced by my emailing him, when he was already dealing with Sue representing CIRG on these matters – all confusion of which, is now is resolved.



Dear Mr Brown

Thank you for your e-mail to which I would respond as follows:

My previous conversations with Mr ****** have been centred around the progress towards providing the footbridge across the River Aire from City Island to what is now called Wellington Place. The details of this bridge already have the benefit of planning permission and a river crossing at this point is also a City Council objective included in the Unitary Development Plan Review 2006. In addition, there is also an existing approval for an outline scheme at Wellington Place which was approved in Nov 04 and indicates a footbridge in this location. The current outline application also indicates a footbridge.

During my most recent conversation with Mr ****** (during the first or second week of the new year) as well as the bridge, I also discussed the current outline planning application on the Wellington Bridge site (referred to above) for which I am also the case officer. As part of this conversation I informed Mr ****** that I had received a letter of objection to the Wellington Place scheme from the City Island Residents Group (CIRG) . At that time I informed Mr ****** that I had not had an opportunity to read the letter in any detail (it is 7 pages long and had been received over the Christmas and New Year period). I informed him that the address given at the head of the letter was:

c/o ** Catalina,
City Island
Gotts Rd
LEEDS
LS12 1HD

Originally this letter arrived unsigned, however, this week I have received correspondence from Susan Ridge representing CIRG on other related matters. This has appended to it the original letter and which is from the same address. I therefore presume that this first letter was also from the same writer.

The original letter, amongst other matters, expresses disappointment with the present lack of any footbridge which, in my opinion, infers a general support for the bridge. It then goes on to say that it's landing point location between the two tower blocks would result in a loss of privacy to the apartments in proximity to this point. However, this is based on a misinterpretation of the City Island landing point which is on to the riverside footpath and not the raised deck area. There will, therefore, be no impact on the privacy of the units in this location. For your information the bridge has to land at this lower level so that it's gradient does not become prohibitively steep rendering it unusable. It will be 'at grade' at both ends under the approved scheme.

Any comments received during consideration of the outline application for the Wellington Place site will be reported to Members and addressed in the officers report to Plans Panel.

Can I suggest that, in the interests of simplicity and clarity, only one point of contact is chosen from CIRG to correspond with myself. This would avoid potential confusion and an unnecessary duplication of work.

I would simply like to conclude by reiterating a previous point which is that the bridge already has permission and is a stated objective of the Statutory Development Plan.

I hope this is a clear statement of my position on this matter.

Paul Kendall

Brief Update from the Management Company

Bonaire Problems
The lift that has been reported out of action for so long by so many of you, by the sounds of it is due to health and safety. Basically there was a major leak in Bonaire that affected several apartments, and also the lift shaft. The lift company, Kone, will not allow the lift to be used again until it is completely dried out. It is to be checked again next week.

Also, the leak caused damage that required the concrete slabs being raised to investigate how it could be avoided in future, and this it seems will require more major work than initially required, in the form of building a gulley – hence it is still “work in progress”

Parking Spaces for Rent
We were originally hopeful that the spare parking spaces owned by Mayfair in our basement that are being held for residents of City Island II, would be a short term solution for some people to rent out until the completion of City Island II. However, Mayfair (as usual) are not responding to the management companies communications and so it cannot be progressed, and the management company have had to conclude that they do not want to proceed. Not good.

Window Cleaning
Apparently there are only a couple of abseil points left to test after which a full window clean will be scheduled for February, and twice yearly thereafter.

Misc.

Free Newspaper
As I only ever enter and leave City Island via the car park, I was not aware until today that the Yorkshire Post have installed newspaper stands with a free weekly newspaper that is a summary of the week’s news that they have reported, in the foyer of each block, available for residents. Its replenished every Friday.

Car Park Signs
This is probably old news to a lot of residents too, but for those who asked CIRG when we first started for building name signs in the car park, each block is now clearly marked with a large black and white sign with the its name.

NHBC
Further to my email yesterday about getting some action out of Mayfair via the NHBC for outstanding snagging issues, a dozen or so people have now emailed back saying that they have had success via this route. Additionally, I have spoken to one of the directors at Gleeson’s, who are Mayfair’s contractors, and Mayfair have not been telling Gleeson’s about snagging issues unless logged in this way – so our suspicions were right all along about Mayfair, they simply have been ignoring everything unless logged officially.. So, NHBC is definitely the way to go – get your issues in now!

Further Parking Issues...

Just to let you know that the car park over in front of Staples is now issuing parking tickets to the tune of sixty quid – I know I got one a few weeks ago for “not using the car park owners facilities”. On the back of the ticket was a host of other reasons for issuing tickets as well, so be warned – we can’t even move our cars or our visitors cars over there anymore.

Outstanding Snagging Issues -- How To Get Some Action From Mayfair.

Like a lot of people I have had outstanding snagging issues since I bought my apartment nearly two years ago. Also like a lot of people, Mayfair have consistently ignored every correspondence I have sent to them via post, email, via the concierge or over the phone. Recently, I have had some limited success in getting some reaction (in so much as they no longer simply ignore me, and at least acknowledge my existence).

If you own an apartment with any outstanding snagging issues do the following. If you are a tenant in an apartment with outstanding snagging issues get your owner to do the following:

1. Ensure that it has been less than two years since the date you completed the purchase of your apartment. If it’s more than this you will need to contact the NHBC to see what your options are.

2. Write a letter to Mayfair stating that you are writing formally to register the snagging issues that are outstanding with your apartment (give details of which apartment) within the two years required for NHBC remediation, and that you consider this recorded delivery letter a formal record of such. Tell them you have also sent a copy of the letter to the NHBC. If you would like to see the letter I sent to use as a format, email me and I will send you a copy of mine.

3. Send the letter recorded delivery to Mayfair at Mayfair Developments, 3 Elm Grove, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 6PL. Keep the recorded delivery receipt safe.

4. Send a copy of the letter to NHBC at NHBC Claims, NHBC House, Davy Avenue, Knowhill, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK5 8FP

5. Optionally send a copy to your solicitor just in case you need to take legal action after the 2 year watershed or for any other reason.

After a week or two, Gleeson’s (Mayfair’s contractor) should contact you to arrange viewing of the defects. The NHBC should also contact you to ensure that the developers have contacted you, and asking you to get in touch with NHBC if nothing has happened so that remediation can take place.

Hope this helps with some of the frustration, and gets you some results. Let me know how you get on at cityislandleeds@googlemail.com

High Winds

I have been working from home today from my study which is the mezzanine level of my flat which is one of the penthouses facing the development site of City Island II. Apart from it being a terrifying experience in the high winds anyway, it became more and more frightening as debris started to fly off the building site and peppering City Island, myself included. This culminated in a large 6 feet by 4 feet thick piece of wood flying off the top floor of the development and whacking into my apartment. It took a chunk of the rendering off the wall, bent one of the metal stanchions almost completely in half and also hit the window in the process and I was amazed that it didn’t break it.

I have contacted the project manager of City Island II, and also had the fire brigade visit them too. As although they were running around trying to secure everything today, in my view this should be a proactive activity and not something that happens once gale force winds are upon us, as due to health and safety they were not allowed to go up to most floors, which meant more flying debris for us that they could not secure. It was just a good job the large piece of wood hit our apartment and not a pedestrian.

The project manager has assured us that any damage will be rectified without question, so If you have any damage to your apartment caused from flying debris from City Island II, let us know your contact details and I will make sure the project manager contacts you to put matters right.

Also, it seems that it you do not lock your patio doors, high winds will simply blow them wide open – there were several apartments today where this had happened, with blinds streaming outward – and no doubt more damage for the occupiers to return home to inside. So, you have been warned, lock your patio doors!!