Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Kennington Park Estate Tenants’ Association held on 24 September 2014 at the Kennington Park Estate Community Centre
Present: 27 Tenants and Leaseholders of Kennington Park Estate, Marco Barrella in the chair
In attendance: Nigel Walker, Resident Services Manager, Hyde Southbank Homes
Cllr Jane Edbrooke, Cllr Claire Holland, (Oval Ward Councillors)
Member of the Resident Engagement Team, Hyde Group
The Chair welcomed everyone to the 2014 Annual General Meeting and introduced guests.
- Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Jack Hopkins, Oval Ward Councillor
- Minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting held on 25 September 2013: For formal approval
The minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting were approved as a correct record of that meeting by those in attendance on that occasion.
- Matters arising from the minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting
It was confirmed that the majority of the matters arising from the minutes of the 2013 AGM were referred to in the current Annual Report from the Tenants’ Association for 2013/2014. It was noted that it was a matter of concern and disappointment that there were many issues which remained outstanding from this time last year and on which very little tangible progress had been made by HSH/Hyde management. Residents were invited to refer to the TA Annual Report which gave details of the outstanding issues and the work undertaken by the TA try to ensure more timely progress was made.
- 2013/2014 Annual Report from the Kennington Park Estate Tenants Association
The written Annual Report had been circulated to all in attendance. Marilyn Evers spoke to the report as follows:
Kennington Park Estate Tenants’ Association had undertaken the following activities on behalf of all tenants and leaseholders during the 12 month period since the TA AGM in September 2013:
- Negotiation with management on the planned and cyclical maintenance programme for KPE
- Meeting with Hyde Chief Executive and Chair of the Hyde Group Board
- Holding Hyde Head Office to account over the failure of the repairs contract with Mears
- Discussion with Hyde Head Office on proposed development on Harleyford Street/Community Centre site
- Service charge scrutiny and review
- Parking enforcement consultations
- Participation in Estate Inspections and responding to cleaning and grounds maintenance contract performance
With reference to negotiation with management on the planned and cyclical maintenance programme for KPE, it was confirmed that a formal complaint had been submitted to Hyde by the TA on the basis that Hyde was not keeping to the spirit or the word of our tenancy agreement in relation to its responsibilities for planned and cyclical maintenance on Kennington Park Estate. It was a matter of immense concern that residents had to make a formal complaint before our landlord could be persuaded to comply with our tenancy agreement. A satisfactory outcome remained outstanding.
At the meeting with Hyde Chief Executive and Chair of the Hyde Group Board, when the TA was supported by our Member of Parliament, the following issues were raised by TA reps but an extremely disappointing response was received from the Chair and the CE
- the effect on residents of the poor performance of Mears
- the completely unacceptable situation with the delay to the drainage stack clearance programme,
- the inconvenience and unfairness to residents of the lack of parking enforcement arrangements on KPE for eighteen months
- the unfairness to KPE residents of the apportionment of the cost of the CCTV service and the inordinate length of time the review of the service had taken,
- the effect on the service to residents of the centralisation of services (and the associated centralisation of power)
Residents welcomed the Annual Report and noted the sustained work and commitment required on the part of the Tenants’ Association as demonstrated by the activities identified in the Report. The Annual Report from the Kennington Park Estate Tenants’ Association was formally received and approved.
- 2013/2014 Finance Report from the Kennington Park Estate Tenants’ Association
It was reported that the balance in the TA account as at the beginning of September 2014 was £1,407.12. A total of £219.17 had been expended on maintenance of the KPETA website and on printing and delivery of notices for TA meetings. It was noted that the TA had processed £205 through the TA bank account on behalf of the KPE Lunch club. The Finance Report was formally received and approved.
- Formal adoption of revised Kennington Park Estate Tenants’ Association Constitution and Terms of Reference
It was confirmed that KPETA had adopted the Hyde model terms of reference and constitution at the time of transfer of ownership from the Council to Hyde in 2005. However, as that was now several years ago it was an appropriate time to ensure the documentation was up to date. It was also confirmed that the proposed, revised up to date constitution and terms of reference, based on the Hyde model constitution, had been presented to the last meeting of the Tenants’ Association in July 2014 and had been formally approved for adoption pending final, formal approval at the Annual General Meeting.
It was also confirmed that the new documentation had been available for scrutiny on the KPETA website since July 2014. It has been presented at the July TA meeting for due consideration in hard copy form and was available at this meeting in hard copy form for scrutiny and comment. Following a brief discussion the proposal to adopt the revised constitution and terms of reference was put to the vote. Adoption of the revised constitution and terms of reference was approved by 14 votes in favour and one against.
- Election of block representatives to the Tenants’ Association Executive Committee
Cllr Holland was invited to take the chair to conduct the elections. She confirmed that the TA Executive Committee held regular meetings in advance of full meetings of the Tenants’ Association in order to organise TA meetings and conduct other TA business. Membership of the Executive Committee represented an opportunity to influence and support the work of the TA. Nominations were invited and agreed as follows:
Abel: A Figueras (to be confirmed)
Alverstone: M Barella, S Reid
Blades: J Twelves, S Poyntes
Blythe: B Jennings
Brockwell: J Gore (to be confirmed)
Grace: J Gore (to be confirmed)
Hornby: K Young, M Evers, A Gebrehannes
Key: Nominations to be invited again at the next meeting of the TA in November
Lockwood: J Mahoney
Lohmann: C Gibson
Read: M John (to be confirmed)
Sherwin: G Sixsmith, R Matas Moreno
7.1 Nominations to Tenants Association Officer Positions
The Chair invited nominations to officer positions. It was confirmed that the nominations agreed by the AGM were to be to be formally recommended to the Executive Committee as per the process set out in the newly adopted TA terms of reference and constitution.
The following nominations were agreed
Joint chairs: J Twelves, M Barrella
Deputy chair: K Young
Secretary: M Evers
Treasurer: M Evers
- 2013/14 Report from HSH Board, HSH Resident Assurance Committee and HSH Resident Forum
It was reported that a report from the HSH Board had been requested from Hyde Head Office on the basis that the HSH Board should be accountable to HSH residents and should demonstrate that accountability. It was also reported that Hyde Office had been asked to provide the minutes of the Resident Assurance Committee for the last twelve months on the basis that those minutes are available on request (as stated in the terms of reference of the RAC). A response had not been received to either request. As it was the HSH Board (as part of the Group Housing Services Board) which considered and approved the annual budget for Hyde Southbank Homes it was of critical importance that the HSH Board made itself accountable to HSH residents for those decisions and accountable for the use of the income derived from HSH residents in Kennington and Stockwell. The lack of accountability was unacceptable, however, if responses were received from Head Office after this meeting, a report would be made to the next meeting of the TA in November.
It was confirmed there had been a meeting of the HSH Resident Forum earlier in September and it was clear that residents in Stockwell had concerns very similar to the concerns of residents of Kennington Park Estate, for example, an unnecessarily protracted process in terms of parking policy and parking enforcement arrangements, the failure of the repairs contract and the very poor performance of Mears, difficulty with accessing services through the call centre, inaccuracy of service charges, etc.
- Any Other Business
Dates for meetings of KPETA in 2015 were confirmed as follows: 18 February, 29 April, 15 July, 23 September (AGM), 18 November 2015.
Date of next meeting of the Kennington Park Estate Tenants’ Association
The next meeting of the Tenants’ Association was scheduled for 7.00 pm on Wednesday 19 November 2014. Tenants’ Association Executive Committee pre-meeting scheduled for 1830 on 3 November 2014.