Background
The below is an email received from Councillor Claire Gilbert regarding water sprinklers received on 27 November 2018.
Email
“From: Claire Gilbert
To: claire gilbert; Paul White; Maurice Mcleod; Angela Ireland
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2018 10:33:58 PM GMT
Subject: Sprinkler Update + Communications
Dear all,
I am writing with a further update on the Sprinkler case in the First Tier Tribunal, and to ask for your views on communications about this matter in the future – please see highlighted section at end of message.
- Last Open Meeting
Many thanks to all of those who came along to the open meeting on 4th November at the Alma Hotel, and to those of you who sent in questions.
For those of you who were not able to attend, the speakers at the meeting included (1) Mark Eaton, the solicitor and Amanda Gourlay, the barrister who represented 11 Leaseholders at the Case Manangement Hearing on 16th October, (2) a representative of the Leaseholder Advisory organisation LEASE, (3) myself and the Labour speaker on Housing, Councillor Paul White, and (4) West Hill Independent Councillor Malcolm Grimston. The lawyers spoke about their view of the case, and explained how they could assist anyone who wanted to join the 11 Leaseholder Group whom they represent. They also took questions from the floor. LEASE explained their services, and Councillor Grimston and I spoke about the hearing which took place on 16th October.
Anyone who would like to be put in touch with the lawyers mentioned above is welcome to contact me to do so. Equally, I have given details of other expert advisors in this area to residents in Roehampton, so again please let me know if this would be useful to you.
However, you do not have to engage any lawyer or representative, and the Tribunal must ensure that all Leaseholders are able to participate.
- 2. New Tribunal deadlines
The Tribunal issued new Directions on 5th November, which you should have received already in hard copy, and which are available via this link: file:///C:/Users/TLA%20-%20CGil/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Tribunal_Directions_5_November_2018%20(1).pdf
In brief, the new directions say the following key things:
* All respondent leaseholders (i.e. those living in the 100 “tall” blocks) are entitled to take part in the proceedings whether or not they have already returned a reply form to the Tribunal office.
* Leaseholders are encouraged to work together in groups and seek representation – but this is not obligatory.
* By 19th November 2018 you should have been sent a hard copy of the following documents: (a) The directions dated 5th November; and (b) Details of the website where all electronic copies can be seen.
* By 11th December 2018, the Council must give the Tribunal a full “statement of its case”, i.e. a better explanation of its position and what it is asking the Tribunal to decide. This must nclude explaining the reasoning it says should be used by the Tribunal (a) To decide whether or not there is an obligation or right for the council to carry out the specified works in each flat; (b) To decide whether or not there is a right of access to each flat for the purpose of undertaking the specified work; (c) To decide whether or not there is a right to claim a proportion of the cost of the works as a service charge payable by each lessee.
* The Council’s statement should also (a) Give full detail of the decision-making process and decision or decisions by the Council to provide the proposed sprinkler systems.
* The statement should include details of the matters taken into account by the Council in reaching its decision which has been described as being on a “global” basis; (b) Append block by block lists of all long leasehold addresses, the date of the lease for each address and the type/category of lease;
* By 5th February 2019, the respondents (i.e. Leaseholders or their representatives) must have made it clear if they intend to take certain steps – which are (i) if they intend to apply to Strike Out the Council’s application (i.e. if they think the Tribunal can decide that the Council’s application should not be allowed to go any further because it’s wrong in law) and/or (ii) if they intend to make a request to transfer the case to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) under rule 25 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal)(Property Chamber) Rules 2013.
* If Leaseholders do not intend to take either of the above steps, they must give their statement of case in response to the Council’s case by 19th February 2019.
Communications – your views please
At the last hearing I informed the Tribunal and the Council how bad communication on this issue has been so far, and asked the Tribunal to note the importance of communicating clearly and regularly with residents on this important case.
The Tribunal noted this request, and has agreed to establish a Leaseholders Communications Group which will assist the Tribunal in “seeking to ensure that communications are effective”. It will also liaise with the Council which I am told has agreed to assist in the task of communication. I volunteered to be a member of the Leaseholders Communications Group, and it will meet this Friday morning, 30th November 2018 at the Tribunal’s office in Goodge Street.
To date, the Council has told residents that they must look at the WBC website regularly for updates. It’s not right in my view that residents have to seek out important information, and it is wholly inappropriate to fail to recognise how difficult this is for certain residents who may not have a computer at home/who may need assistance with IT, language or other support in this case.
There are many other suggestions which can be made, including direct mail for the most important communications. As many of you will know, the Council publishes regular magazines such as HomeLife and Brightside, as well as having access to residents’ addresses, details of accredited residents’ association leads, and regular access to community halls, libraries etc where information could be shared.
I have spoken to many residents about how they would like to receive communications, and asked about some of the above ideas.
If you have a view on this, on behalf of yourself or someone you have spoken to in your block/in your Residents’ Association – please would you also email me with your views on this issue before close of business on Thursday 29th November? Thank you.
I hope that this is a helpful update. Please let me know if you have any questions. Please also let me know if you would rather not receive these emails in future.
With kind regards,
Councillor Claire Gilbert
Labour – Roehampton & Putney Heath”
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Please note that all information is provided on a best efforts basis and that readers should make their own efforts to review and assess the provided content.
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