Newsletters
Macquarie Quay - Undercroft Bike Theft
Posted 5th Nov 2024
SPECIAL EDITION: UNDERCROFT BIKE THEFT, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Over Thursday, October 31st and Friday, November 1st, there were a spate of bike theft incidences in our undercroft with, we think, two valuable bikes stolen. The first audacious theft saw two thieves ’casing’ the whole undercroft on an electric scooter and, what looks to be, a disposable shopper bike around 9.15pm. They look to have entered the undercroft by following a car in, or they might have forced the gate at Capella. Then, they used their bike to prop that gate open for quick get away, while they again toured the undercroft.
They found two covered bikes under Capella, with one of them only having a heavy lock on its ’quick release’ front wheel! The bike next to it was locked on its frame or back wheel, so the thieves married up what they found; a frame from one and a wheel from the other. They were tooled up for any mechanical need and completed the wheel change exercise in the open part of the undercroft in full view. The obvious lesson from this theft is not to just lock a front wheel. The general lesson is that only heavy duty locks will deter thieves looking for an easy steal.
On an inspection of the undercroft on the morning after the above, the Board was amazed to find so many bikes completely unlocked! Over the above two days, another bike was stolen under Vega and other covered bikes were disturbed in Orion and Carina. Obviously all the above has been captured on CCTV and the Board remains in dialogue with the Police, assuring them that CCTV downloads will be made available.
The grave concern the Board has is the absolute vulnerability of the undercroft - and the potential dangers for residents if thieves are challenged. Clearly, vigilance is now of paramount importance with, perhaps, the hooting of car horns if suspicious bike activities are seen. The Board intends mobilising a task force, to thrash out ideas for new security measures we might adopt. Thoughts so far include approaching Premier Marinas for additional security patrols, Commissioning our own security patrols, a ’neighbourhood watch’ roster of volunteers, audible sound warning to our CCTV cameras/ wall lights. Naturally, the Board will be asking the Police for an urgent site appraisal, to help us in our deliberations. If you can offer experience, have your own ideas or just want to register your help, please contact the Directors as soon as you can at vqmc@macquariequay.com
Thank you
WORKING HARD TO MAKE MACQUARIE QUAY A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE
Your Quay Matters - October update
Posted 30th Oct 2024
Welcome again to ’Your Quay Matters’. In the inaugural edition we said we would update on the myriad of Estate matters we have been working on since the new Board was formed. But firstly, it was encouraging to meet a sprinkling of leaseholders who attended the informal drinks gathering at The Yacht Club on Tuesday, October 22nd. We hope this will be the first of more meetings/seminars we hope to put together over the coming months. Any ideas on how we might bring Leaseholders together will be gratefully accepted.
COMMUNAL FIRE DOORS
A previous Board had commissioned an extensive Fire Door Inspection Survey, which catalogued all remedial works necessary to bring all existing doors, glazing and frames fully compliant to rigorous fire safety standards. The new Board has appointed RTJ Fire Safety Management to conduct these Works, starting on Monday, November 11th. The Board has stipulated minimum disruption to residents while these essential works are undertaken. It is envisaged that contractors will be on site for some 25 days.
The Board has asked the contractor to prepare a short presentation regarding possible shortfalls and remedial options to Leaseholders own front doors. Watch this space for further details.
SLY TIPPING
Directors recently found the Merope bin store filled with an astonishing clear out of a mattress, wardrobe, desk and chair. The culprits were quickly identified by neighbours and the dumping exercise was found on CCTV. Thankfully, the culprits needed little encouragement to remove all the objects from our site. We would remind everybody of the effectiveness of our CCTV surveillance.
A correction since stating last month that under our ’Disposal of White Goods’ heading, we could take away all unwanted ’white goods’, this cannot include Fridges, nor mattresses, which would entail respective costs to VQMC of £60 and £30. Boilers, dishwashers, ovens, washing machines can all be taken. If you want to avail yourself of this service contact the Directors for direct access to the company store room.
BIN STORES
In our last Newsletter, we stated the intention of putting a code lock on the bin store that serves Orion and Carina. After consulting residents further, some vulnerable people were concerned about forgetting or confusing numbers and being left with rubbish at the entrance to the store, or in their homes. We listened and decided to display enforcement notices on the front door. See above and please report any misuse of our bin stores to Sensible, or via the email at the bottom of this Newsletter.
BALCONY VIEWS
A previous Board of Directors created a specification for the replacement of wooden balcony decking with a particular aluminium system - which was appraised for performance and appropriate integration with the integrity of the building. Whilst that Board nominated an associated contractor, it was made clear to Leaseholders that they could use alternative contractors complying to the basic specifications.
The current Board has conducted an extensive market survey, to find alternative contractors available to our shareholders using exactly the same Alideck Ultraboard materials, system and installation expertise. ISW UK are offering the firm price of £2,185 plus VAT for a standard 1.6 x 3.3m balcony. This price also includes a Qualicoat powder coated surface finish, to give added long term protection against sea salts. It is, of course, an individual choice of who you should use. NS Engineering are now quoting an ’economical’ starting price for their balcony installation of £2,000 inc VAT. You can make your own comparison by getting quotations from:
ISW UK
Peter Woods
0333 066 7831
info@iswuk.com
NS ENGINEERING
Noel Saunders
info@nsengineeringservices.co.uk
WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED
The estate has an expert insurance broker here as a Leaseholder. Thomas Whippy has given the new Board invaluable advice and extremely competive rates for recent renewals on Terrorist cover, Engineering Cover and Management Liability. Unfortunately, the critical Buildings Insurance Cover was placed by the Managing Agent before this Board came into office. At a premium this year of £48,000 it is an expenditure we will be looking at very closely over the coming months.
Why do we need Terrorist Insurance we hear you saying! And, over the last 4 years, the Directors of VQMC decided not to protect the Estate from any potential consequences of terrorism. The new Board had a contrary viewpoint and decided to reinstate, what it saw as, essential cover for our estate. Just consider the consequences if, for example, a lone wolf, or small cell were identified to be planning some assault from a property here - and the whole estate and surrounding roads had to be closed down with people and workers evacuated! This Board felt it better to be safe than sorry. We hope you all agree, but we would welcome any comments.
NO PUSSIES GALORE!
The Board’s policy concerning the keeping of cats by Leaseholders will now be subject to licensing application. We will allow only one cat per Leaseholder resident, which will not be allowed to use the outdoor spaces of the estate nor interior communal areas of any of our buildings. A Licence is not available for renting tenants. If you have or, are thinking of having a cat, please apply to the Directors for a free Licence.
GOING DOWN THE DRAIN
The soil pipes and main drains of this estate haven’t been blasted clean, over many years - possibly since the Estate was built. There have been a few recent reports of backing up toilet/shower smell seepages across the estate and it may well be that undercroft red pipe leakages are being caused by pressure on clogged joints. So, we brought in a specialist company to put a camera down the drains supporting the buildings at the West end of the estate. The results gave us a sharp intake of breath. Something will have to be done, so a carefully planned budgetary implementation is now being evaluated, starting early next year. We will keep you updated.
MESSAGE BOARD
The MacQuarie Quay apartment of long term renter, Moyna is being sold next August. She is most keen to find something else here and reaches out to any landlords who might be looking for a new tenant next year. Looking beyond MQ, Moyna cites the need for two bedrooms, a lift and to be south facing. Please email the Directors in the first instance, if you feel you might be able to offer assistance. Thank you.
SUBSCRIPTION CHOICE
We’ve taken the liberty of distributing this Newsletter again to the email addresses held by The Managing Agent for all previous communications and Notices sent to all our Leaseholders. If you would like to unsubscribe, or update an email address, please mail the Directors with your request and property number to:
vqmc@macaquariequay.com
WORKING HARD TO MAKE MACQUARIE QUAY A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE
Your Quay Matters - September update
Posted 23rd Sep 2024
Your quay, MacQuarie Quay matters to us all. So welcome, to the first Newsletter produced by the new Board of Directors - as a viewpoint upon key matters important to us as owners and residents. We intend the Newsletter as an update upon the essential management and maintenance of our estate and, most importantly, a forum for the views and contributions of all residents.
We’ll kick things off with the following reports and proposals. If you have a contribution to make, please email the Directors at vqmc@macquariequay.com, marking the subject, ’Newsletter.’
BIN STORES
It was drawn to our attention recently that the bin store which serves Orion and Carina apartment blocks was being used for the dumping of non communal garden waste -from other parts of the estate. We have complied with Orion and Carina leaseholders requests to fit a security lock to that bin store.
Such dumping is, of course, recorded on CCTV, which is regularly inspected by the Board. We respectfully remind all residents of the estate that bin stores are for the exclusive use of apartment residents. Please advise Sensible or the Board if you see any unauthorised usage of our bin stores. Thank you for your cooperation.
PARKING VOUCHERS
Formerly a paid function for a ’volunteer’ Director and that person then being paid by Sensible, the Issuing of red vouchers will now be provided free of any charge to leaseholders by new Director, Tricia Dalal - and the claimed-back costs from the Sensible Management fee will be donated to the Wetwheels Charity.
Could we also take the opportunity to remind that each apartment is entitled to a pack of 28 vouchers every two months. Requests for supply to be made to Sensible.
DISPOSAL OF WHITE GOODS
The company has now regained communal use of the store hut at the Pacific Drive entrance to the Estate. The Board has arranged for assembly in this store of residents’ unwanted white goods, such as fridges, microwaves etc, for taking away safely and lawfully by a reputable disposable resource. Just leave your items in your usual bin
store.
EMERGENCY FIRE RESOURCE
If you are more vulnerable to the impact of a fire, or know of any other vulnerable person living on our estate, please record this with Sensible. They will add those names and addresses to the Emergency Fire Boxes now located on ground floors of all our buildings.
COMMUNAL ELECTRICITY SUPPLY
We are aware of some tradespeople, such as mobile car mechanics plugging in to the communal electrical supply in our buildings and increasing other residents energy costs. We have even found electric scooters plugged in by residents! The communal electric supply is for the use of authorised cleaning and maintenance contractors only.
Please advise Sensible if you become aware of any such misuse. Thank you.
MEET THE DIRECTORS.......
And meet your fellow leaseholders. The Directors would like to invite all leaseholders to an informal gathering over a few glasses of early Autumn bubbles. Please join us in the Members Bar at the Sovereign Harbour Yacht Club on Tuesday, October 22nd from 7pm to 8pm. We’ll tell you what we’ve been doing. You can tell us what you expect of the management of VQMC......... and how you might like to participate with us.
SUBSCRIPTION CHOICE
We’ve taken the liberty of distributing this Enewsletter to the addresses held by The Managing Agent for all previous communications and Notices sent to all our Leaseholders. If you would like to unsubscribe, or update an email address, please mail the Directors with your request and property number to:
vqmc@macaquariequay.com
WORKING HARD TO MAKE MACQUARIE QUAY A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE