2021.06.17 SAG Update 1

Seabrook Action Group

Update 1 (17 June 2021)

1. Background

There has been considerable concern expressed of late about a number of issues on the Seabrook estate, not least around the recent Management Company invoices for £250.   These have generated a number of posts on the Seabrook Orchards Facebook page.   

Two Seabrook residents, Gordon Edwards and Andrew Sails, discussed this together and decided to float the idea of a formal Seabrook Residents Group, which would give residents a forum for discussing areas of concern, and also making common representations on behalf of residents.

During the past week, Gordon Edwards and Andrew Sails have written letters and distributed them to every household on the estate.    This was done by hard copy through letterboxes in order to make sure that the message reached everyone.    Residents were invited to email Andrew Sails if they would like to be involved or kept in touch with the project.    

This Update is going to all those who have to date responded to this initial mailing.

• Key Objectives

We have already received over 40 email replies to our initial mailing, addressing a wide range of issues.    They show overwhelming support for pursuing the idea of a Seabrook Residents’ Group.     

In the light of these responses, we propose that in the first instance, we prioritize the following key objectives:

• To explore and clarify all aspects of the legal issues surrounding the Seabrook Orchards Management Company
• To seek clear and definitive statements from Bloor regarding their future plans, with particular regard to the development of communal land/facilities, together with detailed plans for Phases 2 to 4
• To gather feedback from all interested residents in order to produce a broad list of on-going concerns for future consideration
• To develop proposals for a formal Seabrook Residents Association or Group.

At this stage, a small informal group is taking this agenda forward, and will provide updates for all those who have expressed interest in the project.    We hope that everyone is content with this initial way of working: please let us know if you have concerns about process at this stage.

• Seabrook Orchards Management Company (SOMC)

SOMC is registered at Companies House as a dormant company with the Dart brothers as directors.    

Paras 9-12 of the Transfer of Title document deals with the SOMC (in some early versions referred to as the “Rentcharge Owner”).    This specifies that SOMC is among other things required to “maintain repair cultivate and where necessary renew” the Management Areas and their facilities and the Attenuation Pond.    At a first glance, this seems to talk about maintaining rather than developing community resources.

We understand that the community property has not as yet been transferred or conveyed to the SOMC.

Those purchasing property on Seabrook Orchards were all required to agree the payment of an initial £250 management fee to SOMC.     Following the initial payment, no further payments were required until May 2021, when a letter was sent including an invoice for an initial annual payment of a further £250.     

This letter was addressed merely to “the Resident”, with an attached invoice addressed simply to “the owner”, raising questions about the legal status of a document sent without a specific named recipient.

We are not sure whether this letter and invoice were delivered indiscriminately to all houses on the estate, or only to some.    In particular did it go to those who had (1) only recently moved in and had thus only just paid £250, (2) those in rented accommodation who did not own their property and (3) those with the Guinness Partnership and possibly others, who we understand are already paying a £5pw management fee.

Gordon Edwards is seeking to contact the Guinness Partnership to establish how they relate to these issues.

The SOMC letter has raised many concerns regarding (a) the lack of reasonable warning and timetable of future payments, (b) insufficient detail/breakdown regarding spend to date and timeline for projected future spend, (c) whether the quality of work is satisfactory, (d) how decisions are made on expenditure, and (e) how residents can query the decisions and performance of SOMC.

A significant number of residents have written to SOMC raising these and other concerns.    As far as we are aware, no one has as yet received an acknowledgement or reply.    A number of residents have indicated that they will not be paying the £250 until they receive satisfactory answers to their questions.

The SOMC Articles of Association (included in the conveyancing pack at the point of purchase) include references to dwellingholders as members able to vote at General Meetings etc.    We are not aware of any residents being invited to be a member of SOMC, nor of any information about General Meetings.

• Issues to be taken up with Bloor, and other matters of community concern

Thanks to many of you who have raised specific issues which might be taken up by the Action Group in addition to matters raised above.      These include:

• Initial promises about community facilities including plaza, café, GP surgery, shop, allotments etc postponed or abandoned.  
• Plans for the communal corridor of land between Phase 1 and Phase 2.
• Weeds in planted beds and general untidiness of much of the estate
• The inadequate acoustic barrier between the M5 and Seabrook.     The need to plant trees early in order to give them time to grow.
• Children’s play area too close to open pond
• Provision of good quality footpaths linking the Millennium Woods to Ronald Gardens and the Phase 1/Phase 2 link road
• Problems with speeding vehicles.    Danger that as and when the road between Phase 2 and Vernon Cres is opened up, the estate may become a rat run.  
• Parking – problems with badly parked vehicles partially obscuring sightlines and obstructing difficult and narrow junctions
• Delays in making roads up to acceptable standard
• Builders’ lorries using Dart Avenue rather than the new road from Topsham Road
• Concerns about potential access to open land by travellers’ groups
• Building issues especially re. roofing in Phase 1 and delays to snagging in Phase 2.
• Specific problems with antisocial behaviour
• Setting up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme
• Social cohesion – need for greater sense of community

• Moving towards a formal Seabrook Residents Association or Group

It is suggested that at this stage we aim simply to work together as an informal “Seabrook Action Group” (SAG).     In due course we need to consider turning this into a more formal entity.

A key question is how the Seabrook Group might or might not relate to the existing Newcourt Community Association (NCA), which covers a large area including Great Woodcote Park, Holland Park etc, all the way up to IKEA.   

The current links between NCA and Seabrook are not particularly strong, and disappointment has been expressed by some regarding the Seabrook article in the June issue of Newcourt News, which does not really reflect the views of many Seabrook residents.

There seems to be widespread agreement that Seabrook needs a dedicated group to address the many concerns specific to this development.    We understand however that NCA has already agreed in principle to the setting up of a Seabrook specific group as part of the wider Newcourt group.     Do we want to set up a (semi-autonomous) group under the NCA umbrella, or would we prefer a totally independent Seabrook Residents Association?

Initial emails suggest that there are quite varied views on this.    Andrew Sails and Gordon Edwards are arranging meetings with John Arkell (former NCA Chair) and Richard Whittaker (current NCA Chair) to get their views and seek their advice.

6     Data Protection

It is hoped to share further periodic Action Group updates with those who have asked to be kept informed.    This will be done via email.    This requires the Action Group to hold a list of email contact details, and these records must be held in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).    This means that details can only be used to give information to those on our contact list, and will not be passed on to anyone outside the group, or to other members within the group.    Group emails will be blind copied.

If you wish to remain on our mailing list, please confirm (by email to Andrew Sails) saying:
“I permit the Seabrook Action Group to hold my contact details, but understand that these will not be shared with others (within or beyond the Action Group) without my specific permission.”

• Next steps

We will circulate another briefing in due course.    At the moment we will try to work via email correspondence, but at a later point we may want to consider holding either a zoom meeting or a hybrid meeting (face to face but with video conferencing facilities) either at the Community Centre or the School.

Thank you to everyone for your support and input to date.    If you have any comments or concerns about any of the above, please do not hesitate to share them with us.    

Andrew Sails

Gordon Edwards

Tracey Brady