9th December 24

Leaseholders AGM

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Thank you to everyone who attended the Leaseholders Annual General Meeting on Sunday at The Park Inn hotel.
The presentation and meeting minutes will be available shortly.


December 24
 

Portico Maintenance

The Portico refurbishment is nearing completion.  The final block will be completed w/c 9th December
 

Fibre Installation

Hyperoptic are continuing to install the fibre optic network around the estate and in to each block.
The works are scheduled for completion end of Jan / beginning of Feb 2025

19th November 24

NPC Parking Issue

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When residents book in visitors vehicles outside of NPC office hours, they receive a message saying the voice mailbox is full.
NPC are aware and are addressing this.

In the meantime, residents can book in visitor vehicles via email using the following address  >>  info@nationalparkingcontrol.co.uk
Your message should include your registered telephone number, full name, flat number and visiting vehicle registration number, along with the expected duration of the visit if it will span more than 1 day.

 

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7th November 24

New Parking Company - NPC

NPC have been appointed by MESA & FSM to manage car parking at Marks Court.  The new system will be live Monday 11th November.
All previously registered vehicle details have been transferred to NPC.

The number to call to book in a visitor’s vehicle will be 0330 111 5888.
Please use this number as opposed to sending such requests via email.

When you call during normal working hours to register a visitor from a pre-registered phone you will speak with a real person. Simply advise you are wishing to book in a visitor at Marks Court, Southend and provide the times and vehicle registration details. Outside of normal working hours you will be able to leave a message with these details. NPC are currently developing a mobile phone app for booking visitors, which should be available in the New Year.

As well as operating the ANPR camera system, NPC will undertake periodic patrols and as such will pick up on vehicles where attempts have been made to evade detection by either parking unregistered vehicles long term in the carpark or by parking on the access roadway just inside of the entrance to the Court but outside of the range of the ANPR camera.

The grace period for picking up and dropping off has been extended from 10 minutes to 30 minutes to allow multi-drop delivery vehicles to make deliveries within the Court without incurring a parking charge.

Full details can be found here  >>  NPC Parking - Marks Court


5th November 24

Leaseholders AGM

The Annual General Meeting for Leaseholders is scheduled for Sunday 8th December at Park Inn, Pier Hill Southend at 10am.
Please confirm your attendance via the following link  >>  MESA Leaseholders AGM

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4th November 24

Fibre Installation

Hyperoptic have started the fibre installation at Marks Court.  At this point the MESA trustees are waiting on further information from Pier Management to confirm the planned schedule of works and what impact (if any) can be expected.
There is no charge for the installation of services to each property.  Once complete every leaseholder will have the opportunity to select a service provider who will charge accordingly for their services.

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1st September 24

Trusteeship Update

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The Directors of Marks Estates Southchurch Avenue Limited (MESAL) are very pleased to announce that on Friday 30th August 2024, the Deed of Appointment between MESAL and Woods Management Limited (WML - the retiring trustee) was completed. As a result, MESAL has now obtained full control of the
trusteeship.

Full details can be found here   Transfer of Trusteeship


​16th August 24

Community Update

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A number of items discussed at the last MESA trustees meeting need your input.  If you would like to volunteer and/or have a view on any of the topics listed below, please reply directly to MESATrustess@GMail.com
 

• Would you like to volunteer to assist with the general tidying & upkeep of the estate gardens & green areas ?

• Would you like to volunteer to be a fire marshal for your block ?

• Would you like MESA to make future residents and/or leaseholder meetings available via an online MS Teams meeting ?

• Would you like MESA to install communal washing lines ?

​1st August 24

Portico Maintenance

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The portico maintenance is well underway with 3 blocks already completed
The intended schedule is to complete one portico per week

Pic 1          Pic 2

Status of Trusteeship

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25th July 24

STATEMENT REGARDING THE STATUS OF TRUSTEESHIP AT MARKS COURT

Introduction
Following on from the recent leaseholders and tenants meeting held at the Park Inn by Radisson Palace Hotel in Southend on the 30th June, the MESA directors wanted to provide a summary of the discussion / presentation at the meeting, together with update of what has happened since.
There is more in-depth information in the meeting minutes (link below) and Facebook.

Full notes from Sunday 30th June Residents & Leaseholders meeting

Summary and Update: Transfer of Trusteeship
MESA is in the process of replacing Woods Management as trustees, but the trusteeship needs to be thought of as two separate areas: operational (day to day) and executive (legalities).  

In August last year, MESA took over operational control, and requested completion of the Deed of Appointment and transfer of funds, including the reserve funds. This transfer should have been done in  3 months, but only the initial draft of the Deed was received in February 2024.

The draft Deed included clauses indemnifying Woods Management and its property manager (RMG) against any irregularities that ever took place during their trusteeship and would make MESA responsible. If the Deed was signed in its current form by the Directors of MESA, it would make the directors and all leaseholders of the Court liable, as each flat owner has been allocated a single share in MESA.  

We felt that the wording in the draft Deed put too much risk on the shareholders of MESA, and we sought legal advice. We instructed Jerry Nathan of Tollhurst Fisher, who agreed that we should not sign the Deed of Appointment as it currently stands.  

Mr Nathan has since been in communication with the legal representative of Woods Management setting out a proposal to resolve the issue. We are expecting a reply week commencing 29 July 2024. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement; however, if not, we may be forced to revert to the law court.  

As MESA has not signed the Deed of Appointment, MESA does not have the ‘executive’ element of the trusteeship yet, and we do not have the authority to approve sales or lease extensions. Currently, Woods Management is listed on the Land Registry site as the organisation that can approve sales and lease extensions.  

We do not know how long it will take to affect the full transfer of the trusteeship. We recognise and sincerely sympathise with the difficulties that some members of Marks Court are having with extending leases and selling; but unfortunately, we have been unable to compel Woods/RMG to behave in a reasonable manner. 

We are doing all we can and taking every opportunity to move this along as much as possible. This includes asking our legal counsel if there is any way around these issues in the short term for emergency situations. We are in constant  communication with Mr Nathan, who is doing all he can to push this through for a swift resolution with the legal representative of Woods/RMG.
 

These actions were communicated at the meeting for leaseholders and residents on the 30th June, and there was a consensus that MESA trustees cannot sign something that would make all the leaseholders on the Court legally liable for any irregularities that took place under the trusteeship of Woods Management and its agent RMG.

We’ll provide another update in mid-August.

MESA Meeting Minutes

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1st July 24

Full notes from Sunday 30th June Residents & Leaseholders meeting



Planned Building Works Update

 

25th June '24

From Pier Management
 

We have now received

 

1. Building control notice

2. Pre-commencement condition discharge for the Construction Management Plan

3. Structural engineers foundation details

4. Topographical survey

 

We will at the end of this week dig and re-fil with concrete 1No foundation. Works will commence on Thursday with site set up and marking out of the area in question. Materials etc will likely be delivered on Friday. Excavation will occur on Monday and concrete will be poured on Tuesday. The attached traffic management plan details the location of the works.

 

In respect of machinery there will be a small digger on site followed by a concrete delivery. The usual working hours will apply. I don’t believe there will be any working over the weekend for this portion of construction. 

 

The area will be temporarily fenced off whilst this work is ongoing and on completion the site will be made good. We are happy to discuss the potential moving of the rose beds elsewhere within the gardens.

 

CDM Action Plan

Traffic Management Plan
 

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MESA Trustees & Residents Meeting

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Sunday 30th June '24
 

On behalf of the board of directors of Marks Estate Southchurch Avenue (MESA) Ltd, leaseholders and tenants at Marks Court are cordially invited to a general meeting to be held at the Park Inn by Radisson Palace Hotel, Pier Hill, Southend-On-Sea on Sunday 30 Jun 24 starting at 10:15 and with a nominal finish time of 12:30.  The doors will open at 10:00.

 

It is intended that the MESA Directors and Robert Fowler (FSPM) - property manager provide an update on various trustee and property management issues.  An agenda will be issued before the meeting.  If you have any specific issues that you would like to see on the agenda, please advise us by 21st June.

 

To enable us to manage venue arrangements, We would be grateful if you could let us know if you plan to attend the meeting.  For those leaseholders who do not live on the Court, please let your tenants know about the meeting.

 

If you are unable to attend but there is an issue or topic you would like discussed at the meeting, please submit the details via our Contact Us Page
 

Alternatively you can email the Trustees direct at:
MESATrustees@GMail.com

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Planned Building Works

As many of you will already be aware the Freeholder has obtained planning permission to develop the area of Marks Court known as the Rose Garden with the erection of an additional 3 storey block comprising 4 self-contained flats.

Details of the development can be found via Southend City Council’s web planning portal, which may be accessed at www.publicaccess.southend.gov.uk/online-applications and searching using the following reference 21/00641/FUL. Planning permission was granted back in July 2021 and to avoid permission lapsing, the Freeholder is required to make a material start of the project within 3 years of permission having been granted.

Without any prior notice having been given to either Marks Estate Southchurch Avenue Co Ltd (MESA) or Fowler & Spenceley Property Management (FSPM) as MESA’s agent, the freeholder’s surveyors were on site last week carrying out some initial site investigations into existing services within the vicinity of the new building. The surveyors were challenged whilst on site by one of the MESA Board members and by several other residents, at which time they confirmed the purpose of their visit.

Subsequently Pier Management, as the Freeholder’s agent, advised that it was their client’s intention to commence work on site on the 26th June 2024. It is understood that this work will include the fencing off of the site and the excavation of the foundations. This is, as mentioned above, primarily to ensure that the planning permission they hold does not expire. Although Pier have given assurances that it is the Freeholder’s intention that this work will be undertaken with the minimum of inconvenience to residents no further detail has been provided.

This is not a project that is supported by MESA who, having taken independent legal advice, understand that although there are restrictions within the Trust Deed that prohibit extending the existing buildings, there is nothing which prevents the Freeholder from building an entirely separate, additional residential block.  Both MESA and FSPM will be keeping a close watch on the development, both during this initial phase and as it progresses, to ensure any disruption to residents is kept to a minimum and where necessary, will be bringing any concerns to the attention of Pier Management.

Requests have been submitted via FSPM to Pier Management to obtain further details of these works, to include:

 

* A copy of the relevant Health & Safety documents.
* Details of the project insurance.
* A method statement detailing how disruption will be minimised during any construction works and how the existing roadways and parking facilities are to be

  protected and kept clean.
* How the residents are to be compensated for the loss of the rose garden and whether there are plans for it to be relocated at the Freeholder’s expense

  elsewhere on the Court.
* A timeline for the proposed works

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We will provide further updates as and when additional information is made available to us.

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