Month: April 2021

16th April 2021 in Newsletter

Spring 2021

Dear Residents, here are the latest updates regarding the estate.

Welcome!

Welcome to everyone who has moved onto the estate recently. The Directors and Court Reps are available to help if there are any questions or issues – contact details are at the end of this newsletter. Please don’t hesitate to ask. A welcome pack should be delivered to every new resident. Let your Court Rep or one of the Directors know if you’ve not received it. Newsletters are produced quarterly, and in these strange times it’s important to communicate and encourage each other. We hope you find them useful.

For new residents it might be useful to point out the basic roles. Dene Park Maintenance Ltd. (DPM) manages the estate and the Directors are volunteers who employ Realty to deal with the business and administration side of DPM. Together with the volunteer Court Reps, we are an interface for communication. We are also friends and neighbours too, of course.

Gardening/Planting etc.

The gardeners continue to do a great job keeping our estate looking tidy and attractive. One of the problems that have arisen over recent years is that residents have looked after areas adjacent to their house. This is great until they move and then these areas can be left unattended and become unsightly.

If you want to change or add to planting in the communal areas around your house, please complete a Request Form – this is so that any new plants, bushes etc. can be approved as part of the overall estate planting scheme. You should have received a form through the post; but it is available on the website too in the Contact Us page. Otherwise, you could make a request via your Court Rep.

Plants in pots however are no problem as they can be moved easily.

Please let the Directors know of any gardening jobs that you feel might be due such as: areas that might be “unloved,” overgrown, diseased or dying. We will be drawing up a list of maintenance tasks; and now would be a perfect time to hear feedback from residents.

Volunteer Gardening Group

We are always looking for volunteers to join an informal gardening group to help maintain areas that have been renewed on the estate.

Contact Bo (0161 432 4851)

or Pat (0161 432 6716)

We are also looking at ways to enhance the biodiversity of the estate and are working with a group called Sustainable Living in the Heatons (SLH), initially to plant sunflowers. Please get in touch if you have any further ideas. We’d love to hear from you.

Estate Security

DPM is no longer listed with Neighbourhood Watch because, having checked the website, it appears there is now little advantage of belonging – no reduction in house insurance, no hotlines and it is not funded in the way that it used to be.

The estate WhatsApp group is better for communicating security issues. If you want to join, contact Phil Mason ([email protected]) or Ev Speak – details at the end of the newsletter.

Please be vigilant as scam roofers and others have been operating in the area. Also, there have been a few car break-ins.

AGM

The estate will not be able to have a traditional AGM, usually held at The Nursery Inn, until Covid-19 restrictions allow.

Although the DPM Directors and Court Reps are continuing to meet virtually via Zoom, this is not practical for a large open meeting. Consequently, the normal business, including the legal requirements, will be conducted as soon as an open meeting is possible. We are considering a suggestion that this could be held on a communal area when weather and daylight hours permit.

The Accounts for the years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 will be sent out as usual.

Communal Areas

We are so fortunate in having communal areas and play areas for residents to enjoy.

Please note that any equipment, chairs, tables etc. must be removed from play areas after use. Temporary gates must not be used to block access to play areas.

Play areas (not the communal areas) should not be used to exercise dogs or to store bins. DPM are duty bound to adhere to ROSPA regulations regarding children’s play areas. The play areas can be found in Dene Court, Deneway Close and Deneway Mews.

Communal areas are a shared space and residents are requested to be attentive to the privacy of others when close to houses. Please ask children to play on the play areas provided for them.

Parking

Recently some residents have had their access blocked. Please continue to park with care and consideration. This is especially important at the moment with so many residents being at home during the day. Also, please take your bins in after they have been emptied as this releases more space.

Phase 2 Painting/UPVC Cleaning

UPVC Cleaning:

Realty secured 3 quotes and the directors decided to use Pure Clean as they are the estate window cleaners and are familiar with the houses. The work commenced on 4 March 2021 and should be completed by the end of May.

Pure Clean offered to clean gutters at the same time if requested by the resident. This was an extra cost payable by the resident via Realty.

Painting:

Realty secured three quotes and the Directors will soon be a position to give you all the details about the painting – we will do this in a separate notice. When it comes, please take time to read it as it will contain important information. Realty will organise and oversee the work as per the DPM Agreement.

Phase 1 Painting: 2018:

DPM have been made aware of various issues regarding the painting of the fences due to the wood, preparation and actual painting. The Directors discussed the issues and agreed to leave this until the next Phase 1 in 2022.

Dene Park Estate Website

The website can be found at: www.denepark.org.

Please send any ideas for articles/inclusions to the administrator Tony Picot (email at the end of the newsletter).

Hard copies of newsletters etc. will still be available for distribution, as we realise not everyone on the estate uses a computer.

New Directors

Welcome to Gill Heyworth, Phil Speak and Teresa Tyrrell who have been formally nominated and now co-opted as DPM Directors.

New Court Representative

Welcome to Tom Faulkner who has offered to be the Court Rep for Elizabeth Court

Many thanks to previous Court Reps and Directors Marilyn Cole, Sophie Tyrrell, Evelyn Speak, Patricia Flynn and Oonagh McDonnell for all their endevours on behalf of DPM and the estate over the years.

Clare Neary

We were saddened to hear of the death of Clare Neary which occurred just before Christmas 2020. Clare faced her illness with extreme courage, all the more admirable because she had to undergo everything it entailed against the background of Covid-19. This meant that she was deprived of the person-to-person support which is so valuable in these situations; although her many friends did support her as far as the restrictions allowed. She was a loyal friend to many and also a good neighbour. She lived in Dene Park for many years and served as a Director of DPM for a number of those years. She will be very much missed.

Contacts

Bo Cochran (Director and Court Rep)

11, Burley Court

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