Chocolate Works Residents’ Association
Newsletter, March 2025
Welcome
In the run up to Eid al-Fitr, Easter and Passover, however you celebrate these festivals, may you have a joyous time.
AGM
You will hopefully have seen the notice sent out recently informing you that our AGM will take place on Tuesday 29 April at 19.30 in St Chad’s Church Hall. If you wish to submit a proposal to be discussed and voted upon at the AGM please note that we must receive it before 8 April. The proposal must have a proposer and seconder. If you wish to stand for the Committee, then please let us know before 21 April. In both cases, please contact admin@cwra.co.uk.
Parking Survey
Many thanks to all of you who completed the parking survey. Watson has had a blip in analysing the results. Joe Langan is trying to resolve this issue and if he is able to do so we will present the results at the AGM. If Joe is unable to resolve the issue then we may have to repeat the exercise! I will let you know.
David Wilson Homes (DWH)
We are frustrated at DWH’s lack of action in resolving the snagging issues around the estate and the fact that DWH are not engaging with the CWRA any more – even Watson PM claims to be having problems engaging with them! So, earlier in the year we made contact with the City of York Council (CYC) planning enforcement team. The planning enforcement team came out and appeared interested in trying to resolve the issues. We are hoping that as DWH has not complied with its planning obligations, the Council’s planning enforcement team may be able to exert some pressure. We shall see.
Maintenance of Verges
Residents across the estate have been paying for the maintenance of the verges along Clock Tower Way. However, these are in the possession of DWH and will be handed over to CYC on the adoption of the roads. As it stands, residents have never had, and never will have, ownership of these verges. Therefore, we should never have been paying for their maintenance.
Watson PM has estimated that during its time as managing agents, residents have paid slightly over £10,000 to maintain these verges. I have written to Daniel Carrick, a director at Watson PM, stating that this is unreasonable and we should be refunded this money. Daniel has agreed that we shall not pay for this going forward and he will try to obtain this money promptly from DWH.
However, I have informed him that the money is repayable to residents irrespective of whether or not Watsons is able to secure repayment from DWH. Watson should never have included this in our service charge. While I am happy to give Watson a short period to make payment, if DWH does not pay up, Watson will need to make the reimbursement.
CCTV
It has been noted that some residents have started installing CCTV to enhance their security. Please be aware that if you choose to do so then this is subject to oversight by the Information Commissioner (ICO). Its website has helpful information of what you can and cannot do and your responsibilities under the General Data Protection Rules (GDPR). In order to protect the rights of all residents, any resident who fails to comply with ICO and GDPR requirements will be reported, firstly to Watson for action, and, if necessary, to the ICO.
Drones
On a somewhat related note, I have had complaints about people using drones to make recordings of the estate. I understand that the individuals concerned may be estate agents and are doing this for marketing purposes. However, this inevitably encroaches on the privacy of other residents and we do not know exactly what is being recorded and in what properties. Please do not agree to, or ask, estate agents to make such films unless you can guarantee that other residents’ privacy will not be compromised.
Bishopthorpe Road Boundary
At the open meeting at the end of 2024, it was agreed that the Committee should look into proposals regarding the Bishopthorpe Road boundary. It was approved, some time ago, I know not by whom, that a fence should be erected on that boundary. The CYC planning department was unhappy at the proposal and that particular plan is currently in limbo. The open meeting asked the Committee to look at alternative approaches and to consult on them in due course. This work has taken a little longer than anticipated and has included speaking with tree surveyors, tree surgeons and CYC tree officers and planning staff. We now expect to go out to consultation on three or four options after the AGM but before summer. An update will be provided at the AGM.
Roofs
We understand that DWH is looking to replace the roofs on Cocoa, Hallmark and Neapolitan Houses. We await detail about when this will take place.
Social Committee
In the last newsletter we made a request for any resident who may be interested in volunteering to start a Social Committee. I am pleased to say that a number of residents did volunteer and I would say that this committee is in a nascent state. More information at the AGM.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the AGM on 29 April.
Gavin McBurnie – Chair